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92-449: The Victor Emmanuel Railway (VER) was created on 25 May 1853 by decree of Victor Emmanuel II , King of Sardinia . It was authorised to run through Savoy from Culoz , at the boundary with France , via Chambéry and then through Piedmont , from Susa to Turin and onward to Buffalora at the boundary with Austrian territory. The Piedmont section was built by the VER itself. The Savoy section

184-706: A Hebrew text, a Rashi commentary on the Pentateuch , printed in 1475 in La Giudecca of Reggio, even though scholars consider Rome as the city where Hebrew printing began. The Jewish community of Reggio was also considered to be among the foremost internationally, for the dyeing and the trading of silk : silk woven in Reggio was esteemed and bought by the Spaniards, the Genoese, the Dutch,

276-558: A Christian fleet coming from Pisa sacked the city and massacred all the Saracens to the great jubilation of the local population. In 1060 the Normans , under Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Sicily , captured Reggio but Greek cultural and religious elements persisted until the 17th century. In 1194 Reggio and the whole of southern Italy went to the Hohenstaufen , who held it until 1266. In 1234

368-526: A colony, Pyxous (modern Policastro Bussentino ) in Campania in 471 BC. Hieron I of Syracuse orchestrated Micythus' removal from power in 467 BC, after which Anaxilas' sons ruled on their own until they were deposed in 461 BC. During the Peloponnesian War , Rhegion allied with Athens . An Athenian inscription ( IG I 53) reports a renewal of this alliance in 433 BC. The Athenians supported Rhegion in

460-580: A cultural centre, as is demonstrated by the presence of academies of art, philosophy, and science, such as the Pythagorean School, and also by its well-known poet Ibycus , the historian Ippys , the musicologist Glaucus, and the sculptors Pythagoras and Clearchus . Rhegion made an alliance with the Roman republic in 282 BC, shortly before the Pyrrhic War . The Legio Campana  [ de ] , under

552-490: A disastrous earthquake damaged Reggio, all of southern Calabria and Messina . The precious citrus fruit, Bergamot orange , had been cultivated and used in the Reggio area since the 15th century. By 1750 it was being grown intensively in the Rada Giunchi area of Reggio and was the first plantation of its kind in the world. In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte took Reggio and made the city a Duchy and General Headquarters. After

644-457: A further limited partnership formed by Messrs Vitali, Picard, Charles and Co. which had been established in Paris on 24 August 1862 and whose parenting partners were Parent, Schaken and Co. and the general partners Vitali, Picard, Charles, and Oscar Stevens. The latter company further subcontracted the construction of the railway trunk lines Alcantara - Catania and Catania - Syracuse , and the works of

736-512: A government in office against the will of Parliament. As a result, while the wording of the Statuto Albertino stipulating that ministers were solely responsible to the crown remained unchanged, in practice they were now responsible to Parliament. Victor Emmanuel died in Rome in 1878, after meeting with the envoys of Pope Pius IX , who had reversed the excommunication, and received last rites . He

828-613: A metropolis of the Byzantine possessions in Italy and was also the capital of the Duchy of Calabria several times between 536 and 1060 AD. Following wars between the Lombards and Byzantines in the 6th century, Bruttium was renamed Calabria. As a Byzantine centre of culture, certain monks there undertook scribal work, carrying out the transcription of ancient classical works. Until the 15th century, Reggio

920-545: A partially covered piazza. It houses offices, gyms, craft laboratories, cinema and flexible auditoria. The city's main association football team is Reggina . They play at the Stadio Oreste Granillo and are fierce rivals with neighbours Messina , who are just a twenty-five minutes ferry ride apart from each other. Throughout their histories they have clashed in the Derby dello Stretto ( Strait of Messina Derby). There

1012-581: A renewed and stronger identity. The symbol of the Reggio Spring is the Lungomare Falcomatà, the sea-side boulevard named after Italo Falcomatà, the centre-left mayor who initiated the recovery of the town. On 9 October 2012, the Italian government decided to dissolve the city council of Reggio Calabria for infiltration by the 'Ndrangheta. The move came after some councillors were suspected of having ties to

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1104-554: A secret meeting with the French emperor. In 1858, they met at Plombières-les-Bains (in Lorraine ), where they agreed that if the French were to help Piedmont in its war against Austria, which still reigned over the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia in northern Italy, France would be awarded Nice and Savoy . The Italo-French campaign against Austria in 1859 started successfully. However, sickened by

1196-651: A war with Locri during the First Sicilian Expedition (427–425 BC). However, when the Athenians launched the much larger Sicilian Expedition of 415–413 BC, Rhegion offered them only limited assistance. During the Third Sicilian War , Rhegion became hostile to Dionysius I of Syracuse . He attacked the city for the first time in 396 BC, but he was rebuffed. Dionysius destroyed the Rhegian navy in 389 BC, besieged

1288-405: Is twinned with: Reggio retains a somewhat rural ambience despite its sizable population. Industry in the city revolves primarily around agriculture and export, fruits, tobacco, briar and the precious essence of the bergamot which is used in perfume production. Reggio is a port city with a sizeable fishing industry. The beaches of the city have become a popular tourist destination . Tourism

1380-696: Is also a major Calabrian derby with Crotone . There is also a second much smaller team HinterReggio Calcio . The members of Parliament representing Reggio Calabria are Federica Dieni ( M5S ) in the Chamber and Marco Siclari ( FI ) in the Senate . Reggio is a road junction on the SS18 Naples -Reggio and on the SS106 Reggio- Taranto roads and also on the A2 Salerno-Reggio motorway . The Tramway of Reggio

1472-810: Is distributed between the Ionian coast (Costa Jonica), the Tyrrhenian coast (the Costa Viola, Purple Coast) and the Aspromonte mountain behind the city, containing the natural reserve of the Aspromonte National Park where, at 1,300–1,950 metres above sea level, there is a panoramic view of the Strait of Messina from the snowy mount Etna to the Aeolian Islands . The new waterfront, designed by architect Zaha Hadid ,

1564-870: Is divided into 15 sub-municipalities ( circoscrizioni ) containing the frazioni ('subdivisions', mainly villages and hamlets) of Catona , Gallico, Archi, Pentimele, Gallina, Mosorrofa ( Greek : Messorofè ), Ortì ( Greek : Orthioi ), Pellaro ( Greek : Pèllaros ) and Saracinello. They are: Centro Storico (1st); Pineta Zerbi, Tremulini and Eremo (2nd); Santa Caterina, San Brunello and Vito (3rd); Trabochetto, Condera and Spirito Santo (4th); Rione Ferrovieri, Stadio and Gebbione (5th); Sbarre (6th); San Giorgio, Modena, Scido and San Sperato (7th); Catona, Salice, Rosalì and Villa San Giuseppe (8th); Gallico and Sambatello (9th); Archi (10th); Ortì, Podàrgoni and Terreti (11th); Cannavò, Mosorrofa and Cataforio (12th); Ravagnese, San Gregorio, Croce Valanidi and Trunca (13th); Gallina (14th); Pellaro and Bocale (15th). Reggio di Calabria

1656-419: Is located on a narrow strait separating Italy from Sicily . The museum (13,400 m ) draws inspiration from the organic form of the starfish, utilizing a radial symmetry to coordinate communication and circulation between different program elements: exhibition spaces, restoration facilities, archive, aquarium and library. A second, multifunctional building (8,000 m ), comprises two separate elements, placed around

1748-472: Is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina . It is situated on the slopes of the Aspromonte , a long, craggy mountain range that runs up through the centre of the region. As a major functional pole in the region, it has strong historical, cultural and economic ties with the city of Messina , which lies across the strait in Sicily , forming a metro city of less than 1 million people. Reggio

1840-546: Is still visible today on the sea-front. Due to its seismic activity, the area was often damaged by earthquakes, such as in 91 BC, AD 17, 305 and 374. Numerous occupying armies came to Reggio during the early Middle Ages due to the city's strategic importance. Invasions by the Vandals , the Lombards and the Goths occurred in the 5th–6th centuries. Then, under Byzantine rule, it became

1932-688: Is the largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria. It has an estimated population between 150,000 and 200,000 and is the twenty-first most populous city in Italy , after Modena and other Italian cities, and the 100th most populated city in Europe . Reggio Calabria is located near the center of the Mediterranean and is known for its climate, ethnic and cultural diversity. It

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2024-463: Is the oldest city in the region, and during ancient times, it was an important and flourishing colony of Magna Graecia . Reggio has a modern urban system, set up after the catastrophic earthquake of 1908 , which destroyed most of the city. Before that seismic event, the region has been subject to several other previous earthquakes. The seismicity is caused by Reggio being on the Eurasian Plate near

2116-460: Is the third economic centre of mainland Southern Italy . About 560,000 people live in the metropolitan area, recognised in 2015 by Italy as a metropolitan city . It holds the record of the worst city in terms of quality of life for environmental and cultural parameters, ranking among the worst Italian cities for quality of life. Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula and

2208-537: Is universal agreement that Victor Emmanuel is an imbecile; he is a dishonest man who tells lies to everyone; at this rate, he will end up losing his crown and ruining both Italy and his dynasty." In 1870, after two failed attempts by Garibaldi, he also took advantage of the Prussian victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War to capture Rome after the French withdrew. He entered Rome on 20 September 1870 and set up

2300-569: The Bronzes of Riace , rare example of Greek bronze sculpture , which became one of the symbols of the city). Reggio is the seat, since 1907, of the Archeological Superintendence of Bruttium and Lucania. The city is home to football club Reggina , that previously played in the Italian top flight . The city centre, consisting primarily of Liberty buildings, has a linear development along

2392-719: The Catania Central Station to the company Beltrami Gallone and Co. In 1866, unable to carry on the work for financial reasons, the Victor Emmanuel Company put the Company Vitali, Picard, Charles and Co. into liquidation. On 29 November 1866, the Victor Emmanuel Company made a new agreement with the General Enterprise for the construction of the Calabrian-Sicilian railway lines to continue the works of

2484-740: The Crimean War ; the deployment of Italian troops to the Crimea, and the gallantry shown by them in the Battle of the Chernaya (16 August 1855) and in the siege of Sevastopol led the Kingdom of Sardinia to be among the participants at the peace conference at the end of the war, where it could address the issue of the Italian unification to other European powers. This allowed Victor Emmanuel to ally himself with Napoleon III , Emperor of France. France had supported Sardinia in

2576-468: The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . Bruno Antonio Rossi (the mayor of Reggio after the historian Domenico Spanò Bolani, who helped the citizenship during the previous turbulent years) was the first in the kingdom to proclaim the new Garibaldi Dictatorship and the end of the rule of Francis II . On 28 December 1908, at 5:21 am, the town was hit by a heavy earthquake and shook violently for 31 seconds. Damage

2668-536: The Marche and Umbria after the victorious battle of Castelfidardo (1860) over the Papal forces. The king subsequently met with Garibaldi at Teano , receiving from him the control of southern Italy. Another series of plebiscites in the occupied lands resulted in the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as the first King of Italy by the new Parliament of unified Italy , on 17 March 1861. He did not renumber himself after assuming

2760-660: The Messina - Syracuse and the Palermo - Catania (40 km of the Termini - Lercara trunk line). At the same time the construction of the various sections of the Ionian line (from Taranto to Reggio Calabria via Metaponto ) was also carried out, which began in 1866 but ended in 1875 after the assignment to the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali and direct financing by the state. The Victor Emmanel company, for various reasons related to

2852-670: The Rete Mediterranea which numbered them RM 2764–2766. They finally became part of FS Class 113 of the Ferrovie dello Stato . For more recent information see the articles on the Culoz–Modane railway and the Turin–Modane railway . Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II ( Italian : Vittorio Emanuele II ; full name: Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia ; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878)

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2944-625: The Second Italian War of Independence , resulting in liberating Lombardy from Austrian rule. Victor Emmanuel supported the Expedition of the Thousand (1860–1861) led by Giuseppe Garibaldi , which resulted in the rapid fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy. However, Victor Emmanuel halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome , still under the Papal States , as it

3036-610: The faultline where it meets the African Plate that runs through the strait, dividing the two European regions of Calabria and Sicily into two different tectonic regions. It is a major economic centre for regional services and transport on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Reggio, with Naples and Taranto , is home to one of the most important archaeological museums, the prestigious National Archaeological Museum of Magna Græcia , dedicated to Ancient Greece (which houses

3128-550: The 'Ndrangheta as well as urban decay. The town is home to several 'ndrine , such as the Condello - Imerti and the De Stefano - Tegano clans, who were involved in bloody wars against each other during this period. The 'Ndrangheta extorts protection money ( pizzo ) from every shop and viable business in town and has more power than the city council in awarding licences to retailers. The spiral of corruption reached its zenith in

3220-603: The 10th–11th centuries the city was ruled by the Arabs and, renamed Rivàh (or sometimes Rŷu ), became part of the Emirate of Sicily . During the period of Arab rule various beneficial ideas were introduced into Calabria, such as citrus fruit trees, mulberry trees (used in silk production) and several ways of cooking local vegetables such as aubergines. The Arabs introduced water ices and ice cream and also greatly improved agricultural and hydraulic techniques for irrigation. In 1005,

3312-579: The 1783 earthquake, the English traveller and painter Edward Lear remarked "Reggio is indeed one vast garden, and doubtless one of the loveliest spots to be seen on earth. A half-ruined castle, beautiful in colour and picturesque in form, overlooks all the long city, the wide straits, and snow-topped Mongibello beyond." On 21 August 1860, during the Battaglia di Piazza Duomo  [ it ; fr ; ru ] (Cathedral Square Battle), Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered

3404-463: The 5th and 6th centuries BC under Anaxilas , who reigned as tyrant from 494 to 476 BC. Anaxilas conquered Zancle (modern Messina ), extending Rhegian control over both shores of the Straits of Messina. He attempted to conquer Locri as well in 477 BC but was rebuffed. When he died in 476 BC, his two sons were too young to rule, so power was held by their regent Micythus . Under his rule, Rhegion founded

3496-550: The Adami and Lemmi Company of the bankers Pietro Augusto Adami and Adriano Lemmi of Livorno. Adami and Lemmi had obtained the concession for the construction of the railways of southern and insular Italy by decree of the provisional government of Garibaldi on 25 September 1860 but later met with opposition from the new Italian government. On 27 August 1863 he entrusted the construction of the new railway lines to Messrs Parent, Schaken and Co. which, on 25 September, subcontracted them to

3588-709: The English and the Venetians, as it was recognised as the best silk in the Kingdom of Naples. From the early 16th century, the Kingdom of Naples was under the Habsburgs of Spain , who put Reggio under a viceroy from 1504 to 1713. The 16th and 17th centuries were an age of decay due to high Spanish taxes, pestilence, the 1562 earthquake, and the Ottoman Turkish invasions suffered by Reggio between 1534 and 1594. In 1534, facing attack by an Ottoman fleet under Hayreddin Barbarossa ,

3680-421: The Italian unification in his own right. Victor Emmanuel II soon became the symbol of the " Risorgimento ", the Italian unification movement of the 1850s and early 60s. He was especially popular in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia because of his respect for the new constitution and his liberal reforms. Following Victor Emmanuel's advice, Cavour joined Britain and France in the Crimean War against Russia. Cavour

3772-433: The Pope into Vatican City . His success at these goals led him to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church until 1878 when it was lifted just before his death. Then, Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples, and Piedmont-Sardinia grew even larger. On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially established and Victor Emmanuel II became its king. Victor Emmanuel supported Giuseppe Garibaldi 's Expedition of

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3864-526: The State financed the completion and entrusted it to the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali . In total 220 km, built in Sicily with state funding (completed after the failure of the Victor Emmanuel company) by the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali. At the time of the inauguration of the first Sicilian trunk line, Palermo-Bagheria (28 April 1863), there were three steam locomotives named Archimede, Diodoro and Novelli, built by Ansaldo . These machines, numbered SFCS 1-3 were, in 1885, sold to

3956-861: The Strutt family and Elizabeth Byron (in 1840), Edward Lear (in 1847), Norman Douglas (in 1911), D. H. Lawrence (in c. 1920) and Eric Whelpton (in 1950s) and the Belgian Jules Destrée (in 1915 and in 1930) visited Reggio. With an exceptionally high population density, Reggio Calabria was cited as having the least green space in a study of 386 European cities. The study reported that green space coverage varied markedly, averaging 18.6 per cent and "ranging from 1.9 (Reggio di Calabria, Italy) to 46 ( Ferrol , Spain) per cent." The study further reported "Per capita green space provision varied by two orders of magnitude, from 3 to 4 m per person in Cádiz, Fuenlabrada and Almería (Spain) and Reggio di Calabria (Italy) to more than 300 m in Liège ( Belgium ), Oulu ( Finland ) and Valenciennes ( France )." Even so, outside of

4048-412: The Thousand (1860–1861), which resulted in the rapid fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy. However, the king halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, still under the Papal States , as it was under French protection. In 1860, through local plebiscites, Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Romagna decided to side with Piedmont-Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in

4140-443: The area around Reggio itself, before expanding to cover present-day southern Calabria (later known as Bruttium ), and finally becoming the name of the whole Italian peninsula around the third century BC. Allegedly, the name derives from king Italus , an Oenotrian king of the region. After Cumae , Reggio was one of the first Greek colonies in southern Italy. The colony was settled by the inhabitants of Chalcis in 730 or 743 BC on

4232-428: The border with the canton of Geneva. Built routes: Overall, the network operated by the company was 274 km long Lines built by Victor Emmanuel Lines of Sicily. The Palermo-Bagheria trunk, inaugurated on 28 April 1863, was the first trunk of the Calabrian-Sicilian network. Total Km. 329, built by the Victor Emmanuel company. Taranto-Metaponto-Crotone-Reggio Calabria. The works started in 1866 ended in 1875 after

4324-450: The casualties of the war and worried about the mobilisation of Prussian troops, Napoleon III secretly made a treaty with Franz Joseph of Austria at Villafranca whereby Piedmont would only gain Lombardy . France did not as a result receive the promised Nice and Savoy, but Austria did keep Venetia , a major setback for the Piedmontese, in no small part because the treaty had been prepared without their knowledge. After several quarrels about

4416-462: The city again in 388 BC and, when it finally fell in 387 BC, destroyed it. His son, Dionysius II refounded the city as 'Phoebeia' in the 360s BC. When he was expelled from Syracuse in 356 BC, he retained control of Phoebeia, but it was captured by Syracusan forces led by Leptines and Callippus in 351 BC. Rhegion then reverted to its original name. Throughout classical antiquity Rhegion remained an important maritime and commercial city as well as

4508-439: The city for 18 months until a new election . According to anti-mafia investigators in 2016, Scopelliti was elected thanks to votes from the 'Ndrangheta. Reggio has been destroyed by earthquakes several times over the centuries, such as in 91 BC, after which the city was reconstructed by order of the Emperor Augustus, followed by another in the year 17 AD; yet another one in 305 AD, and again another in 374. In 1562 one destroyed

4600-407: The city's major historical phases: The toponym of the city might derive from an Italic word rec (meaning 'king', cognate with Latin rex ). Ancient Greek and Roman etymologists derived it from the Greek regnynai ( ῥηγνυναι , 'break'), referring to a mythic earthquake in which Sicily was broken off from the Italian mainland. The history of the area before the arrival of the Greeks in

4692-506: The coast with parallel streets, and the promenade is dotted with rare magnolias and exotic palms . Reggio has commonly used popular nicknames: The "city of Bronzes", after the Bronzes of Riace that are testimonials of its Greek origins; the "city of bergamot ", which is exclusively cultivated in the region; and the "city of Fatamorgana ", an optical phenomenon visible in Italy only from the Reggio seaside. During its 3,500-year history Reggio has often been renamed. Each name corresponds with

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4784-402: The command of Decius Vibellus, was installed as a garrison but subsequently launched a violent coup and seized control of the city. Roman forces deposed Decius and restored the city's independence in 271 BC. Thereafter, Rhegium was an important ally of Rome, with the status of municipium and socia navalis (naval ally). It retained its Greek customs and language, as well as its mint . It

4876-432: The concession for the Calabria-Sicilian lines by transferring to the State, under an agreement of 9 July 1863, its Turin - Susa and Turin - Novara railway lines on payment of an annual income of Lire 2,226,000. The company, chaired by Carlo Laffitte, had been established with entirely French capital. When he obtained the concession for the construction and operation of the Calabrian-Sicilian railway lines, he replaced

4968-399: The construction of the lines had halted, owing to the economic difficulties of the company, and the State had to intervene, with its own capital allocations, and entrusted the works to the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali . Vittorio Emanuele railway track: concession for a line from Modane to Chambéry with fork to Saint-Genis-d'Aoste / French border and to Aix-les-Bains and Annecy to

5060-450: The control of southern Italy and becoming the first King of Italy on 17 March 1861. In 1866, the Third Italian War of Independence allowed Italy to annex Veneto . In 1870, Victor Emmanuel also took advantage of the Prussian victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War to conquer the Papal States after the French withdrew. He entered Rome on 20 September 1870 and set up the new capital there on 2 July 1871. He died in Rome in 1878, and

5152-446: The early 1990s. The sitting mayor at the time, Agatino Licandro  [ it ] , made a confession reporting "suitcases coming into city hall stuffed with money but going out empty". As a result of the nationwide corruption scandals most of the city council was arrested. Since the early 1990s, the so-called "Primavera di Reggio" (Reggio Spring)—a spontaneous movement of people and government institutions—encouraged city recovery and

5244-405: The eighth century BC is not reliably known. Mythical accounts record a series of different peoples in the region, including the Osci (sometimes referred to as Opici ), Trojans , Oenotrians , Ligures , Ausones , Mamertines , Taureani , Sicels , Morgetes and Itali . They also claim that the land around Reggio was first known as Saturnia, or Neptunia. The term 'Italia' initially referred to

5336-450: The eldest son of Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano , and Maria Theresa of Austria , he fought in the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) before being made King of Sardinia following his father's abdication. He appointed Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , as his Prime Minister, and he consolidated his position by suppressing the republican left. In 1855, he sent an expeditionary corps to side with French and British forces during

5428-409: The first Northern European travellers, several famous names such as the Flemish Pieter Bruegel (in c. 1550), the German Johann Hermann von Riedesel  [ it ; de ; fr ] (in 1767), the Frenchmen Jean Claude Richard de Saint-Non (in 1778) and Stendhal (in 1817), the British travellers Henry Swinburne (in c. 1775), Richard Keppel Craven (in c. 1820), Craufurd Tait Ramage (in 1828),

5520-408: The former's fall, in 1816, the two ancient Kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily were unified, becoming the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . During the course of the 19th century new public gardens were laid out, the piazzas (or squares) were embellished and cafés and a theatre were opened. On the newly opened sea promenade a Civic Museum was inaugurated. In fact, some 60 years after the devastation caused by

5612-418: The fresh start that the Italian people wanted and suggested that Piedmont-Sardinia had taken over the Italian Peninsula, rather than unifying it. Despite this mishap, the remainder of Victor Emmanuel II's reign was consumed by wrapping up loose ends and dealing with economic and cultural issues. His role in day-to-day governing gradually dwindled, as it became increasingly apparent that a king could no longer keep

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5704-469: The government choice of Catanzaro as capital of the newly instituted Region of Calabria. The revolt was taken over by young neofascists of the Italian Social Movement , backed by the 'Ndrangheta , a Mafia -type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The Reggio Calabria protests were the expression of malcontent about cronyism and the lack of industrial planning. In the 1970s and 1980s, Reggio went through twenty years of increasing organized crime by

5796-424: The military, and sports. In 1842, he married his cousin, Adelaide of Austria . He was styled as the Duke of Savoy prior to becoming King of Sardinia. He took part in the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) under his father, King Charles Albert, fighting in the front line at the battles of Pastrengo , Santa Lucia, Goito and Custoza . He became King of Sardinia in 1849 when his father abdicated

5888-411: The natural, medieval port of the city and brought about the submersion of the Calamizzi promontory, known in ancient times as the Pallantiòn, where, we are told, the first Greek settlers, the Calcidesi, had set foot. The particularly devastating of 1783 and that of 1908, which was the worst natural calamity to take place in Europe in human memory, both profoundly altered the urban aspect of the city, due to

5980-413: The new capital there on 2 July 1871, after a temporary move to Florence in 1864. The new Royal residence was the Quirinal Palace . The rest of Victor Emmanuel II's reign was much quieter. After the Kingdom of Italy was established he decided to continue on as King Victor Emmanuel II instead of Victor Emmanuel I of Italy. This was a terrible move as far as public relations went as it was not indicative of

6072-510: The new royal title, however. Turin became the capital of the new state. Only Lazio , Veneto , and Trentino remained to be conquered. In 1866 Victor Emmanuel allied himself with Prussia in the Third Italian War of Independence . Although not victorious in the Italian theatre, he managed to receive Veneto after the Austrian defeat in Germany. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Clarendon, visited Florence in December 1867 and reported to London after talking to various Italian politicians: "There

6164-439: The outcome of the war, Cavour resigned, and the king had to find other advisors. France indeed only gained Nice and Savoy after the Treaty of Turin was signed in March 1860, after Cavour had been reinstalled as Prime Minister, and a deal with the French was struck for plebiscites to take place in the Central Italian Duchies. Later that same year, Victor Emmanuel II sent his forces to fight the papal army at Castelfidardo and drove

6256-413: The peace with Austria was accepted by the new Chamber of Deputies. In 1849, Victor Emmanuel also fiercely suppressed a revolt in Genoa , defining the rebels as a "vile and infected race of canailles." In 1852, he appointed Count Camillo Benso of Cavour ("Count Cavour") as Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia. This turned out to be a wise choice since Cavour was a political mastermind and a major player in

6348-457: The placement of shares on the Parisian market and in a liquidity crisis declared itself unable to continue the work undertaken on the Calabria-Sicilian lines in a further convention of 17 November 1867 with the Government of the Kingdom. The reason why foreign entrepreneurs (the capital was mostly French) were so interested in new infrastructure was determined by the fact that they could connect to sulphur -rich mining centres. At that time, Sicily

6440-424: The powerful crime syndicate, under the 10-year centre-right rule of Giuseppe Scopelliti, mayor from 2002 to 2010. His successor, the centre-right mayor Demetrio Arena and all 30 city councillors, were sacked to prevent any "mafia contagion" in the local government. It was the first time that the entire government of a provincial capital had been dismissed over suspected links to organized crime. Three commissioners ran

6532-492: The site of the older settlement, Erythra ( Ερυθρά ), meaning 'red'. The legendary founder of the city was King Iocastus, son of Aeolus , who was later said to be buried on the Punta Calamizzi promontory (called "Pallantion") and appeared on the city's coinage. The colony retained the name of "Rhegion" ( Ῥήγιον ). Pseudo-Scylax also writes that it was a Greek city. Rhegion was one of the most important cities in Magna Graecia , reaching great economic and political power during

6624-578: The successive re-building which gave the present-day layout of straight, intersecting roads, planned by Giovanbattista Mori in 1784 and by Pietro de Nava  [ it ] in 1911. But some town-planning policies at the time were decided upon with no respect for the architectural history of Reggio, as is shown by the demolition of the remaining Norman part of the Castle, following the last big earthquake in 1923. Although Reggio and Calabria in general were less popular destinations than Sicily or Naples for

6716-685: The throne, after being defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Novara . Victor Emmanuel was immediately able to obtain a rather favourable armistice at Vignale by the Austrian imperial army commander, Radetzky . The treaty, however, was not ratified by the Piedmontese lower parliamentary house , the Chamber of Deputies, and Victor Emmanuel retaliated by firing his Prime Minister, Claudio Gabriele de Launay, replacing him with Massimo D'Azeglio . After new elections,

6808-546: The time Italy consisted of small states and many of these were under Austrian control but the King and his Prime Minister hoped to change this. The Piedmont section of the railway was completed in 1854. The Savoy section was completed to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 1856. In between these two sections lay the Alps . Work on a tunnel began in 1857 and the first traffic ran through it in 1871. In stages between 1859 and 1861, most of Italy

6900-665: The town fair was established by decree of King Frederick II . From 1266 it was ruled by the Angevins , under whom life in Calabria deteriorated because of their tendency to accumulate wealth in their capital, Naples, leaving Calabria in the power of local barons. In 1282, during the Sicilian Vespers , Reggio rallied in support of Messina and the other oriental Sicily cities because of the shared history, commercial and cultural interests. From 1147 to 1443 and again from 1465 to 1582, Reggio

6992-571: The townspeople abandoned Reggio. Barbarossa captured eight hundred of those who remained and then burned the town. After Barbary pirates attacked Reggio in 1558, they took most of its inhabitants as slaves to Tripoli . In 1714, southern Italy became once more property of the Austrian Habsburgs, who remained until 1734, when they were replaced by the Bourbons of Spain. Reggio was the capital of Calabria Ulteriore Prima from 1759 to 1860. In 1783,

7084-558: The urban area, the nearby elevated areas have plenty of green space and extensive forests. This includes the Aspromonte National Park . According to the Köppen climate classification , Reggio Calabria possesses a typical Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa ). Its climate has warmer days and cooler nights than Messina which lies on the other side of the strait. Precipitation is another big difference since Messina receives approximately 300 mm (12 in) more. The municipality of Reggio

7176-573: The worst on record in modern western European history. During the World War II, due to its strategic military position, it suffered a devastating air raid and was used as the invasion target by the British Eighth Army in 1943, which led to the city's capture. After the war Reggio recovered considerably. During 1970–71 the city was the scene of a popular uprising—known as the Moti di Reggio —against

7268-621: Was King of Sardinia (also known as Piedmont-Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title of King of Italy and became the first king of an independent, united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878. Borrowing from the old Latin title Pater Patriae of the Roman emperors , the Italians gave him the epithet of Father of the Fatherland ( Italian : Padre della Patria ). Born in Turin as

7360-527: Was a central pivot for both maritime and mainland traffic, reached by the final part of the Via Popilia , which was built in the 2nd century BC and joined the older Via Appia at Capua , south of Rome. Close to Rhegion, on the Straits of Messina, was the busy port of Columna Rhegina. Under the Emperor Augustus , the city was renamed Rhegium Juli in honour of the emperor's adoptive father Julius Caesar and

7452-404: Was built by Thomas Brassey and various partners but quickly purchased by the VER. At the time both Savoy and Piedmont were ruled by Victor Emmanuel who was also Duke of Savoy and soon to be King of Italy . Victor Emmanuel was a constitutional monarch . He and his prime minister Count Camille Cavour were both keen to introduce railways in the interests of modernising and unifying Italy . At

7544-579: Was buried in the Pantheon . The Italian national Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome, containing the Altare della Patria , was built in his honour. Victor Emmanuel was born as the eldest son of Carlo Alberto Prince of Carignano, and Maria Theresa of Austria . His father succeeded a distant cousin as King of Sardinia in 1831. He lived for some years of his youth in Florence and showed an early interest in politics,

7636-1193: Was buried in the Pantheon . His successor was his son Umberto I . In 1842 he married his paternal first cousin (aunt's daughter) Adelaide of Austria (1822–1855). With her, he had eight children: In 1869 he married morganatically his principal mistress Rosa Vercellana (3 June 1833 – 26 December 1885). Popularly known in Piedmontese as "Bela Rosin", she was born a commoner but made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda in 1858. Their offspring were: In addition to his morganatic second wife, Victor Emmanuel II had several other mistresses: 1) Laura Bon at Stupinigi, who bore him two children: 2) Baroness Vittoria Duplesis who bore him another daughter: 3) Unknown mistress at Mondovì, mother of: 4) Virginia Rho at Turin, mother of two children: 5) Rosalinda Incoronata De Domenicis (1846–1916), mother of one daughter: 6) Angela Rosa De Filippo, mother of: Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( Southern Calabrian : Riggiu ; Calabrian Greek : Ρήγι , romanized :  Rìji ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria , or simply Reggio by its inhabitants,

7728-499: Was even worse in Messina across the Straits. It is estimated that 25,000 people perished in Reggio and 65,000 in Messina. Reggio lost 27% of its inhabitants and Messina lost 42%. Ten minutes after the catastrophic earthquake, those who tried to escape by running towards the open spaces of the coast were engulfed by a 10-metre-high tsunami . Three waves of 6–12 metres swept away the whole waterfront. The 1908 Messina earthquake remains one of

7820-663: Was one of the most important Greek-rite Bishoprics in Italy—even today Greek words are used and are recognisable in local speech and Byzantine terms can be found in local liturgy, in religious icons and even in local recipes. During this period, constant migrations of Greeks fleeing the Slavic invasion of Peloponnese, further strengthened the Hellenic element of the city. The Arabs occupied Reggio in 918 and held some of its inhabitants to ransom or kept them prisoners as slaves. For brief periods in

7912-421: Was operative since 1918 until 1937. Tramway line was 5.3 km long, from Sbarre district (southern suburbs) until Annunziata bridge (northern part of town centre) passing by the whole historical centre. It has an important main central railway station , the largest in Calabria, opened in 1866, with ten smaller stations. The Port of Reggio was enlarged after the 1908 earthquake. It is directly connected to

8004-461: Was reluctant to go to war due to the power of Russia at the time and the expense of doing so. Victor Emmanuel, however, was convinced of the rewards to be gained from the alliance created with Britain and, more importantly, France. After successfully seeking British support and ingratiating himself with France and Napoleon III at the Congress of Paris in 1856 at the end of the war, Count Cavour arranged

8096-674: Was the capital of the Calabrian Giustizierato . It supported the Aragonese forces against the House of Anjou. In the 14th century it obtained new administrative powers. In 1459, the Aragonese enlarged its medieval castle. Reggio, throughout the Middle Ages, was first an important centre of calligraphy and then of printing after its invention. It boasts the first dated, printed edition of

8188-409: Was the largest producer in the world of the mineral (a record that was to pass to Texas a few decades later) and it was important to be able to transport it to the ports of embarkation in Palermo , Porto Empedocle , Licata and Catania . Catering for the sulphur traffic sometimes led to tortuous routes and lengthening of the overall layout with negative long-term effects. At the turn of the 1870s,

8280-501: Was the seat of the corrēctor (governor) of "Regio III Lucania et Bruttii" (the southernmost of the eleven regiones into which Italy was divided). In AD 61 the apostle St. Paul passed through Rhegium on his final voyage towards Rome, converting the first local Christians and, according to tradition, laying the foundations of the Christianization of Bruttium. Rhegium boasted in imperial times nine thermal baths, one of which

8372-524: Was under French protection. In 1860, Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Romagna decided to side with Sardinia, and Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in the Marche and Umbria after the victorious Battle of Castelfidardo over the Papal forces. This led to his excommunication from the Catholic Church until 1878, just before his death in the same year. He subsequently met Garibaldi at Teano , receiving from him

8464-648: Was united under Victor Emmanuel but Savoy and Nice were ceded to France in return for her help. In 1862 the Savoy line was extended to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne and in 1867 the Savoy part of the system was transferred to the PLM . On the Italian side the line was transferred to the Piedmont State Railway. The Victor Emmanuel Railway Company had served its purpose and the work on the line was continued in partnership between France and Italy. The Victor Emmanuel Company obtained

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