Misplaced Pages

#313686

17-564: Africo consists of two main centers. The first, Africo Vecchio (Old Africo), is located some 15 kilometres (9 mi) in the mainland at the feet of the Aspromonte . The old town was destroyed by disastrous floods and landslides in October 1951 and abandoned. The second, Africo Nuovo (New Africo), was reconstructed around 15 kilometres (9 mi) away, on the Ionian coast near Bianco . The remnants of

34-416: A tectonic plate and is considered the fourth-largest driving force in geomorphology . The word "massif" originates from French (in which the word also means "massive"), where it is used to refer to a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. The Face on Mars is an example of an extraterrestrial massif. Massifs may also form underwater, as with

51-436: A book on the people of Africo, Tra la perduta gente (Amongst the lost peoples) describing the dire conditions and hunger. At the time the village could only be reached by a 6/7 hour ride on a mule. In 1948 the journalist Tommaso Besozzi and photographer Tino Petrelli published a report in the magazine L’Europeo , showing the misery and hunger of the people of Africo. The article, entitled Africo, symbol of disparity , and

68-424: A massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain. As a purely scientific term in geology , however, a "massif" is separately and more specifically defined as a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures . In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. A massif is a smaller structural unit than

85-480: A publication now in the public domain :  Wood, James , ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia . London and New York: Frederick Warne. {{ cite encyclopedia }} : Missing or empty |title= ( help ) Massif A massif ( / m æ ˈ s iː f , ˈ m æ s ɪ f / ) is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range , containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central ). In mountaineering literature,

102-730: The Gambarie ski resort (1,311 m (4,301 ft)) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi , in the comune of San Luca . Part of the population known as the Griko people have retained Greek culture and language (the so-called Griko language ). Charlemagne is said to have defeated the Saracen king Agolant on Aspromonte. A poem of 11 376 verses was written, named after this victory, named Aspremont (chanson de geste) . Giuseppe Garibaldi , landing here with 3,000 volunteers in his march towards Rome ,

119-652: The Sacred Rites were celebrated in Greek and that the population also used Greek in family relationships, together with Italo-Romance languages. At the end of the 18th century, the Greek Byzantine Rite was still observed there. In the 19th century the inhabitants of Africo abandoned the Greek Rite as well as the Greek language. The dialect of Africo is of the neo-Latin type, but with several words of Greek origin: for example

136-489: The economy is based on agriculture and greenhouses for the cultivation of fruits, the production of cement, and forestry. Tourism is, to date, poorly exploited even though it has enormous potential. Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria ( Calabria , southern Italy). In Italian aspro means "rough" whereas in Greek it means "white" ( Άσπρος ), therefore

153-527: The end of feudalism in Calabria in 1806. An earthquake in 1783 , partially destroyed the town, killing six people. Earthquakes in 1905 and 1908 again hit the town. Africo has become the symbol of hunger, floods, wandering and the dispersion of the inhabitants of inland Calabria. In 1931 the Calabrian writer Corrado Alvaro described a famine which had afflicted Africo. In 1946, Umberto Zanotti Bianco published

170-596: The name literally translates to either "rough mountain" or "white mountain". It overlooks the Strait of Messina , being limited by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas and by the Pietrace river. The highest peak is Montalto (1,955 m (6,414 ft)). The constituting rocks are mostly gneiss , and mica schists , which form characteristic overlapping terraces. The massif is part of the Aspromonte National Park . In

187-542: The name of the stream Aposcipo derives from the Greek Απόσχεπος (Apòskepos = "not protected"). However, Africo is not currently part of the Grecanic speaking area. Its inhabitants are called Africesi or Africoti. The old centre was founded around the 9th century by inhabitants from Delia or Deri. In 1195 the town became a fief of the Archbishop of Reggio Calabria granted by the king of Sicily , Henry VI . It remained so until

SECTION 10

#1732868774314

204-537: The old town are situated in the Aspromonte National Park . The origin of the name is unclear. According to some scholars, the name may have derived from the Latin name apricus (airy and sunny) which is from the Greek aprokos . Others believe it comes from the Latin africus ( ventus ), winds from Africa. Άφρικο (Aphriko) in Greek means deriving from Africa, possibly meaning the South-Westernly wind coming to

221-476: The old town, on the Ionian coast, near Bianco . The town is home to the 'Ndrangheta , a Mafia -type criminal organisation based in Calabria. Several of the criminal clans are sometimes involved in bloody feuds. In Africo Vecchio (Old Africo), the economy of the village was mainly sheep farming, also practiced was the breeding of silkworms, reflecting the Greek origin of the village. In Africo Nuovo (New Africo),

238-540: The region from the Libyan Desert . The village of Africo was inhabitted by Griko people , known as Grecanici in Calabria. The Grecanici are a Greek ethnic and linguistic minority in the Calabria region of Italy, remnants of a population that has resided there since late antiquity. The Grecanic language was lost in Africo during the late 19th century and was replaced by Calabrian. In 1571 Gabriele Barrio writes that in Africo

255-575: The series of documentary photographs produced an outrage from national public opinion which, at the time, was rediscovering the dramatic situation of the " southern question ". The inhabitants of Africo left their village from 1949 onwards and moved to new houses built along the Ionian coast, to New Africo. On October 15–18, 1951, floods and landslides destroyed the old Africo and the nearby hamlet Casalinuovo. People were evacuated to Bova Marina , Reggio Calabria and Fiumara di Muro . Africo Nuovo has been constructed around 15 kilometres (9 mi) away from

272-444: The short coastal strip citrus fruits , vine and olives are grown, while at high elevations the vegetation is composed mostly by oak and holm oak under 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and by pine , Sicilian fir and beech over it. Olive trees grow in abundance. Also, the rare bergamot , the lemony-yellow fruit used in perfumes and flavouring for Earl Grey tea , only grows in the southern Aspromonte. Points of interest include

289-546: Was defeated and captured on August 29, 1862, in the Battle of Aspromonte . In 2021, Aspromonte was designated as a Global Geopark by UNESCO , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In the same year, several people died as a result of various wildfires... 38°10′N 16°00′E  /  38.167°N 16.000°E  / 38.167; 16.000 This article incorporates text from

#313686