Maida (
Calabrian: ; ( sq, Vina) is an
Arbëreshë is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...
'' in the
province of Catanzaro
The province of Catanzaro ( it, provincia di Catanzaro; Catanzarese: ) is a province of the Calabria region of Italy. The city Catanzaro is both capital of the province and capital of the region of Calabria. The province contains a total of ...
, in the
Calabria region of southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. The British routed the French in the
Battle of Maida in 1806, as part of the
War of the Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition)
* In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...
.
Maida is south of
Lamezia Terme and west of the provincial capital Catanzaro.
History
On 4 July 1806 the British under General
John Stuart defeated the French under
Jean Reynier outside the town at the
Battle of Maida. A London pub on the Edgware Road was named ''The Hero of Maida'', which in turn gave its name to adjoining districts of London, Maida Hill and later,
Maida Vale
Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is ...
. King
Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily awarded Stuart the title of Count of Maida.
The Norman castle of Maida was built in the 11th century under the direction of Duke
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calab ...
.
Famous citizens
* Mgr Giovanni Cervadoro, the Carbonaro and teacher, was born in Maida in 1783 and died in 1836, wote School Stabilimenti for his students in 1829.
*
Baldassarre Squitti, the teacher and politician, was born in Maida in 1855.
* The American writer
Gay Talese
Gaetano "Gay" Talese (; born February 7, 1932) is an American writer. As a journalist for ''The New York Times'' and '' Esquire'' magazine during the 1960s, Talese helped to define contemporary literary journalism and is considered, along with ...
wrote about his ancestors from Maida in 1992's, ''Unto the Sons''.
Giuseppe Donato sculptor and protégé o
was born in Maida in 1881 and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1965.
Economy
The main economic activity in the area is agriculture, especially the cultivation of
olive trees,
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nati ...
, and
kiwifruit
Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus '' Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifr ...
. In recent years, tourism has become a significant source of income for the town.
Sister cities
Maida is a
sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
with:
*
Ambler, Pennsylvania, United States
References
External links
Photos of Maidaat Saint Francis Society of Ambler, Pennsylvania, United States
*
Arbëresh settlements
Cities and towns in Calabria
{{Calabria-geo-stub