Belcastro

Comune in Calabria, Italy

Location of Belcastro

39°1′N 16°47′E / 39.017°N 16.783°E / 39.017; 16.783CountryItalyRegionCalabriaProvinceCatanzaro (CZ)FrazioniFieri di BelcastroGovernment

• MayorMaurizio PaceArea

^[1]

• Total53.56 km² (20.68 sq mi)Elevation

535 m (1,755 ft)Population

(31 December 2013)^[2]

• Total1,397 • Density26/km² (68/sq mi)DemonymBelcastresiTime zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code

88050

Dialing code0961Patron saintThomas AquinasSaint day21 MarchWebsiteOfficial website

Belcastro (Latin: Bellicastrum; Calabrian: Bercashru) is a comune in the province of Catanzaro, in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

History

The small town of Belcastro is situated on a rocky spur crowned by a Norman-style castle that belonged to the counts of Aquino. Some propose it as the birthplace of Saint Thomas Aquinas, more commonly taken to have been born in the castle of Roccasecca, not far from Aquino. Feudo for some centuries of the Lords of Aquino, in 1330 by decree of the King of Naples, Robert of Anjou, became a county and changed its name from Geneocastro to Belcastro (Bellicastrum), as a tribute to the beauty of the place and gratification to Thomas 'Aquino, first count of the city and nephew of the saint. In the 15th century it was given the title of city.^[3]^[4]^[5] The historian Lutio d'Orsi ^[6] (16th and 17th centuries) and jurist Giuseppe Poerio (1775-1843), patriot of the Italian Risorgimento and father of the poet Alessandro Poerio, also a patriot, were born in Belcastro.

Its population is now reduced to about 1400 (2017).

References

^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ Articles by Ivan Ciacci in Calabria Letteraria 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006;
^ Cesare Sinopoli, La Calabria, Storia, Geografia, Arte (Catanzaro 1925);
^ Girolamo Marafioti, Cronache e Antichità di Calabria (Padova 1601);
^ Lutio d'Orsi..., I terremoti delle due Calavrie..., NA 1640 - New edition on line 2500 a cura di Ivan Ciacci.