Tropea (; scn, label= Calabrian, Trupìa; la, Tropaea; grc, Τράπεια, Trápeia) is a municipality in the

province of Vibo Valentia The province of Vibo Valentia ( it, provincia di Vibo Valentia; Vibonese: ) is a province in the Calabria region of southern Italy, set up by a national law of 6 March 1992 which came into effect on 1 January 1996, and formerly part of the Provin ...

, in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy. Tropea is a seaside resort with sandy beaches, located on the

Gulf of Saint Euphemia The Gulf of Saint Euphemia ( it, Golfo di Santa Eufemia or Golfo di Sant'Eufemia, la, Lametikos Kolpos or Vibonensis Sinus) is a gulf on the west coast of Calabria, southern Italy. It is part of the Tyrrhenian Sea and borders the province of Cosen ...

, part of the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian p ...

, on Italy's west coast and was named “Most beautiful village in Italy” for 2021.

History

A legend suggests that the town was founded by

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

when returning from his labours at the Pillars of Hercules (the modern-day Strait of Gibraltar). Graves of

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; thes ...

n origin have been found near Tropea. Along Tropea's coast,

Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the last ...

defeated Octavius. The Romans built a commercial port in Formicoli, approximately 3 km south of Tropea.

Main sites

Beach in Tropea - Calabria - Italy - July 25th 2013 - 01

*Franciscan monastery *Monastery of Santa Maria dell'Isola *12th century

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

cathedral * Tropea Castle, which was destroyed in 1876

The Virgin Mary of Romania

A painting of the Virgin Mary from around 1330 hangs in the ''Cattedrale di Maria Santissima di Romania'', a church constructed in Tropea in the 12th Century. The painting is known as the Virgin Mary of Romania and is of Byzantine origin. An unconfirmed story asserts that it was carried aboard a ship sailing from the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...

, when the boat was driven into the port of Tropea by a storm. After repairing the damage, the captain tried to depart, but the ship could not leave the harbour. The bishop of the city, Ambrogio Cordova, dreamed repeatedly that the Virgin Mary was asking him to keep her in Tropea and to protect her. The bishop gathered officials and citizens and went to the ship, where they took the picture. As soon as the painting was brought to shore the ship allegedly left the town. The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the bishop several times in his dreams, warning him of an earthquake that would devastate Calabria. On 27 March 1638 a bishop organised a penitential procession for the people from Tropea, which meant they were out of harm's way when the earthquake struck. Other events have been attributed to the Virgin Mary's protection, including Tropea being spared from the worst of the 1783 Calabrian earthquakes and when six bombs fell on the town in Tropea in the Second World War, but failed to explode.

People

* Pasquale Galluppi - philosopher. *

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

- actor. *

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizatio ...

- an American mobster.

Tropea onions

Villages around Tropea produce

red onions Red onions (also known as purple or blue onions in some mainland European countries, though not the UK) are cultivars of the onion (''Allium cepa''), and have purplish-red skin and white flesh tinged with red. They are most commonly used in co ...

that are well known in Italy. ''Cipolle di Tropea'' ("Tropea onions") have become a synonym in Italy for all red onions.

International relations

Tropea is twinned with: *

Zvenigorod Zvenigorod (russian: Звени́город) is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: History The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a hydronym (cf. the Zvinech, Zvinyaka, Zveniga Rivers ...

, Russia (2013)

References

External links

Pro Loco Tropea - tourist officeMuseo Antichi MestieriPhotos of Tropea and surrounding areasPhoto Gallery

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Calabria