The Patron
San Vitaliano
Vitaliano da Capua is Catanzaro's patron, with the feast listed on 16 July. He is also tied to the local motto of the three Vs: Vitaliano, velluto and vento.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Catanzaro,
Calabria
A regional capital whose older records belong to a much larger province.
Catanzaro stands on a ridge between two gorges above the Ionian coast, the regional capital of Calabria and, for two centuries, the seat of the province the whole centre of the region belonged to.
That second fact is what matters to a researcher. Until 1992 this province covered the territory of three modern ones , and the older records of all three were created under Catanzaro.
The Trade
Silk
Silk and velvet production defined Catanzaro for centuries and generated guild records of its own. For a family in the trade, those records can provide names and occupational evidence beyond the civil registers.
The Landmark
Duomo di Catanzaro
The Duomo di Catanzaro is the city's principal listed church. For descendants, parish records should be combined with occupational sources such as guild or confraternity material when the family worked in the silk economy.
Did you know?
THE OLD PROVINCE WAS MUCH LARGER
Crotone and Vibo were Catanzaro
Until 1992, modern Crotone and Vibo Valentia were part of Catanzaro province. Older records for their comuni were created under Catanzaro, while nineteenth-century district material may appear under historical names such as Monteleone, Nicastro and Cotrone.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Diverse Calabrian varieties in local speech, without identifying one specific Catanzarese form.
Three modern provinces, one older archive
Catanzaro was founded by Byzantines in the ninth or tenth century on a defensible ridge above the Ionian, and it kept a Greek character long after the Normans arrived.
What made it wealthy was silk . From the Byzantine period into the eighteenth century Catanzaro was one of the most important silk-producing centres in Europe — its velvets and damasks were exported widely, and the city's guild statutes for silk are among the oldest in Italy. The trade shaped the city's population, its quarters and its wealth, and its collapse shaped the poverty that followed.
Under the Bourbons the city was capital of Calabria Ulteriore Seconda , and after unification of the province of Catanzaro — which then covered the whole centre of Calabria, from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian and from the Sila to the Serre.
In 1970 Catanzaro was chosen as the seat of the regional government of Calabria, with the regional council placed at Reggio Calabria — a compromise that followed serious unrest in Reggio over the decision.
In 1992 the province lost its northern and western thirds to the new provinces of Crotone and Vibo Valentia .
Postcards from Catanzaro
Wear Catanzaro
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Catanzaro.
SHOP THE COLLECTION →
Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI CATANZARO
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Catanzaro and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE CATANZARO →REGIONE CALABRIA
From the mountains to the sea, Calabria is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE CALABRIA →From the passenger index
At least 5,721 people who gave Catanzaro as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
A city on a ridge between two seas
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Lamezia Terme International Airport.
Catanzaro is built along a narrow ridge with gorges on either side, crossed by the Viadotto Morandi , one of the highest road bridges in Europe. It is an administrative city rather than a tourist one, and it is the better for being seen as it is.
For a descendant it is compact: the old centre along the ridge, the cathedral, the parish churches, and the Marina below on the Ionian.
The city sits at the narrowest part of Italy, so both coasts are close — the Ionian below the city, the Tyrrhenian less than an hour west. The Sila rises to the north and the Serre to the south.
What to see
The old town along the ridge — the cathedral, the Villa Trieste gardens, and the views into both gorges.
Il Viadotto Morandi — the bridge over the Fiumarella.
The silk collections — the trade that made the city.
Catanzaro Marina — the coastal quarter below.
Your family's parish — the record-keeping institution before 1809.
The Sila and the Serre — the mountains on either side of the isthmus.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Catanzaro's fond covers three modern provinces, because two of them did not exist until 1992.
Related places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Catanzaro is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →