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Reggio Calabria: Overview
Reggio Calabria is an Italian municipality located in the Calabria region, the capital of the homonymous Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. With its 171,246 inhabitants, Reggio Calabria is the largest municipality by population in the entire region and the flagship of the Great Reggio Urban Agglomeration of the Strait. This urban agglomeration includes the various municipalities on the Calabrian side of the Strait of Messina and has a strong social and economic integration with the metropolitan area of Messina, thus forming the metropolitan area of the Strait of Messina.
Culture and History
Reggio Calabria has a three-thousand-year-old history and is the oldest city in Greek Calabria, having been an important center of Magna Graecia. Its artistic and cultural heritage is represented by the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, which exhibits objects from Magna Graecia and the famous Riace Bronzes, an archaeological treasure of extraordinary beauty.
Physical Geography
Territory
Reggio Calabria extends for about 32 km along the eastern coast of the Strait of Messina, with half-coastal, hilly, and mountainous areas towards the east, for a total of 236.02 km². The territory reaches a maximum altitude of 1,803 meters above sea level and the main nucleus of the city is located between the Annunziata stream, to the north, and the Calopinace stream, to the south. The historic center was rebuilt at an average altitude of 31 m above sea level to avoid the same disaster caused by the earthquake of 1908, when thousands of people died. The entire coastline in front of the historic center has therefore been divided into three volumes: low marine, high marine, and botanical strip.
Position
Reggio Calabria is located at the tip of the Italian "boot," at the foot of the Aspromonte, and overlooks the Strait of Messina, which separates it from the city of Messina, located on the western side of the Strait. The two cities make up the Metropolitan Area of the Strait of Messina, which coincides with the "Mare Nostrum" of the ancient Romans.
Curiosities
Reggio Calabria has several awards and symbols that identify it. In addition to the Riace Bronzes, among the symbols of the city there are the Monument to the 38th parallel North, which runs through the city in the Bocale fraction, and the lighthouse of Capo Spartivento, the southernmost point of the Italian peninsula located in Palizzi, in the municipality of Reggio Calabria.
In summary, Reggio Calabria is a city that offers a lot in terms of art, culture, and nature. An ideal destination for those who want to discover the Calabria region and get lost among the beauties of Magna Graecia.
