Lago, Calabria

Last updated
Lago
Comune di Lago
Panorama Lago (Italia).JPG
Location of Lago
Lago, Calabria
Italy provincial location map 2016.svg
Red pog.svg
Lago
Location of Lago in Italy
Italy Calabria location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Lago
Lago (Calabria)
Coordinates: 39°10′N16°09′E / 39.167°N 16.150°E / 39.167; 16.150
Country Italy
Region Calabria
Province Cosenza (CS)
Frazioni Aria di Lupi, Cafosa, Chiorio, Fontanella, Greci, Palomandro, Paragieri, Piscopie, Ponticelli, Laghitello, Margi, Rovettari, Sangineto, Scavolio, Terrati, Vasci, Versaggi, Zaccanelle
Government
  MayorEnzo Scanga
Area
[1]
  Total49 km2 (19 sq mi)
Elevation
429 m (1,407 ft)
Population
 (2001) [2]
  Total3,092
  Density63/km2 (160/sq mi)
Demonym Laghitani
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
87035
Dialing code 0982
Patron saint St. Nicholas
Saint day6 December
Website Official website

Lago (Laghitano: U' Vacu) is a comune in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, in southern Italy. It is located 42 kilometers from the city of Cosenza.

Contents

Geography and topography

Lago is located in the mountainous interior of the Cosenza Province, near the slopes of Monte Cocuzzo. Despite being sited in mountainous territory, the higher elevations of the city offer views of the nearby coastline, including Stromboli. It regularly snows in Lago in the winter.

History

Prehistory and ancient era

The pre-historic tribe living in Cosenza called themselves the "Itali" and it was from them where Italy drew its name. They called their land, "Viteliu," which means "land of the life-giving calf." Around 500 B.C., these Italic tribes were conquered by and merged into another Italic tribe called the Bretti (Latin Brutti), who named their country "Brettiōn." They were a rebellious offshoot of the Lucanians, and their name may mean "renegades." They spoke Oscan, and named Cosenza (then called "Consentia") as their capital. Around 300 B.C. the region was at its apex of power and culture. Its position – near the Greek and Carthaginian ports, home to a conquering tribe of Lucanians and Brettians, and with decent relations with Rome and the Etruscan cities, meant that it enjoyed great wealth. The Bretti minted elaborate coins, which are sought-after by collectors.

The Bretti and Lucanians were stubborn resistors of Greek culture. Greeks had colonized the coastal cities of Sicily and Southern Italy, but the Bretti and Lucanians refused to yield. Alexander the Great's uncle, Alexander of Epirus invaded Cosenza in 331 B.C. In a battle near Lago, the combined native force defeated his army and killed him.

The Bretti declined in power precipitously after making bad choices against the Roman Republic. After they sided with Hannibal in the Second Punic War, Rome confiscated half of their territory, and insisted on the right to clear cut their forests, which ended up supplying the timber and pitch for Roman fleets.

Rome began settling the families of veteran soldiers in the Cosenza area. Roman colonies were located around Lago in what is now Campora San Giovanni (Amantea), 10 miles from Lago, in 194 B.C., and also in Figline Vegliaturo, San Lucido, and Cosenza. In addition, much the neighboring territory of Amantea proper was given to the Roman people as public land – anyone could homestead there and grow crops. Finally, the Romans also likely located a small military base near Lago, in modern Aiello Calabro. Combined, these mechanisms “romanized” the population.

Middle Ages

What was likely a small settlement of Romano-Bretti stock existed through the Dark Ages and was not augmented significantly until 1088 A.D. In that year, the Saracens sacked the city of Cosenza, driving the inhabitants into the mountainous interior. The small hamlets around Cosenza saw a population explosion. It is near this date that Lago is first mentioned in copious documents, as the Latin "Lacum." It is likely that the population was further augmented by lowlanders, who understood that mosquitoes do not breed above a certain elevation, as it was also during this time that the low-lying parts of Southern Italy had serious problems with malaria.

In the early Middle Ages, Lago was located in what was likely a border region. The nearby towns, bearing names like Longobardi and Tarifa, likely indicate that the border between Lombard domains and Byzantine territory ran through Lago territory.

Politically, Lago was a domain of the House of Cybo-Malaspina for much of its feudal history.

During the late Renaissance, several churches in Lago were built, some of which are still standing. The church, “Madonna of the Mountains,” built in 1652, is renowned for its architecture and art. Similar to the rest of Cosenza and Catanzaro, Lago was a center of world silk production during the Middle Ages. In the 1753 census of Lago commissioned by the Kingdom of Naples, wealth was counted primarily by how many mulberry trees one owned.

Origin of the Name

Lago, of course, means “lake” in Italian, but there is currently no lake there. However, the Licetto (“Eliceto,” “Acero”) River turns sharply at the edge of town and has a history of silting up. Lago was likely named after a bulge in the river, much like Lake Havasu, which is not a lake, but a bulge in the Colorado River. The historian Don Cupelli believes that any other theories on the origin of the name are mythical.

Cuisine

The cuisine of Lago is typical of Southern Italy. Its desserts ("turdilli") and salumi are renowned around the region. Wine production is healthy and varied, with the Magliocco Dolce grape most widely cultivated.

Notables

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calabria</span> Region of Italy

Calabria is a region in southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It has almost 2 million residents across a total area of 15,222 km2 (5,877 sq mi). Catanzaro is the region's capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurii</span> City of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf

Thurii, called also by some Latin writers Thūrium, and later in Roman times also Cōpia and Cōpiae, was an ancient Greek city situated on the Gulf of Taranto, near or on the site of the great renowned city of Sybaris, whose place it may be considered as having taken. The ruins of the city can be found in the Sybaris archaeological park near Sibari in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucania</span> Historical region of Southern Italy

Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy, corresponding to the modern-day region of Basilicata. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Bruttium in the south-west, and was at the tip of the peninsula which is now called Calabria. It comprised almost all the modern region of Basilicata, the southern part of the Province of Salerno and a northern portion of the Province of Cosenza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Via Aemilia</span> Roman road in northern Italy; connected Rimini to Piacenza in 187 BC

The Via Aemilia was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the River Padus (Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The Via Aemilia connected at Rimini with the Via Flaminia, which had been completed 33 years earlier, to Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruttians</span> Ancient Italic people

The Bruttians were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corresponds to the modern region of Calabria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Cosenza</span> Province of Italy

The province of Cosenza is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 comuni, listed at list of comuni of the province of Cosenza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velia</span> Classical city ruins in Italy

Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is located near the modern village of Novi Velia near Ascea in the Province of Salerno, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messapians</span> Iapygian tribe

The Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC. The Messapians lived in the eponymous region Messapia, which extended from Leuca in the southeast to Kailia and Egnatia in the northwest, covering most of the Salento peninsula. This region includes the Province of Lecce and parts of the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto today.

The Battle of Pandosia was fought in 331 BC between a Greek force led by Alexander I of Epirus against the Lucanians and Bruttians, two southern Italic tribes. The Italic army soundly defeated the invading Greeks and killed Alexander I of Epirus during the battle.

The Oenotrians or Enotrians were an ancient Italic people who inhabited a territory in Southern Italy from Paestum to southern Calabria. By the sixth century BC, the Oenotrians had been absorbed into other Italic tribes.

The Iapygians or Apulians were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia between the beginning of the first millennium BC and the first century BC. They were divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucanians</span> Ancient Italic population

The Lucanians were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so is their dialect.

The origin of the city of Taranto dates from the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Greek colony, known as Taras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insubres</span> Gallic tribe

The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian and Celtic population with Gaulish tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latium</span> Historical region of Italy

Latium is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.

<i>Socii</i> Confederates of Roman Republic

The socii or foederati were confederates of Rome and formed one of the three legal denominations in Roman Italy (Italia) along with the core Roman citizens and the extended Latini. The Latini, who were simultaneously special confederates and semi-citizens, derived their name from the Italic people of which Rome was part but did not coincide with the region of Latium in central Italy as they were located in colonies throughout the peninsula. This tripartite organisation lasted from the Roman expansion in Italy to the Social War, when all peninsular inhabitants were awarded Roman citizenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daunians</span> Iapygian tribe which inhabited northern Apulia in classical antiquity

The Daunians were an Iapygian tribe that inhabited northern Apulia in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Messapians, inhabited central and southern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapic language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latins (Italic tribe)</span>

The Latins, sometimes known as the Latials or Latians, were an Italic tribe which included the early inhabitants of the city of Rome. From about 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small region known to the Romans as Old Latium, that is, the area between the river Tiber and the promontory of Mount Circeo 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Rome. Following the Roman expansion, the Latins spread into the Latium adiectum, inhabited by Osco-Umbrian peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campanians</span> Ancient Italic tribe

The Campanians were an ancient Italic tribe, part of the Osci nation, speaking an Oscan language.

References

  1. "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.