Lamezia Terme

Lamezia Terme is an Italian town of 67 754 inhabitants in the province of Catanzaro in Calabria. The constitution of the municipality of Lamezia Terme dates back to 4 January 1968, following the administrative union of the previous municipalities of Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia Lamezia. As a result of and following the Presidential Decree of 21 July 1972, the municipality of Lamezia has the right, in its official documents, to boast the title of City.

The municipality is of considerable importance from an agricultural, commercial, industrial and infrastructural point of view due to its central position in the region and its flat land. It is home to the region's main airport.

 

How to get

By plane
The International Airport of Lamezia Terme "Sant'Eufemia" (IATA: SUF) is the main airport in Calabria. Both domestic and international flights depart and arrive from this airport. The major companies operating in this airport are: Ita Airways, Ryanair, Volotea and easyJet.

By car
Three main road arteries pass through Lamezia Terme:

Highway A3 - Salerno-Reggio Calabria
State Road 280 of the Two Seas
State Road 18 Lower Tirrena

On the train
1 Lamezia Terme Central Station, Piazza Lamezia, 88046 Lamezia Terme. The main railway station of the city and of the region, it has connections with the major Italian cities, especially with Rome Termini.
2 Lamezia Terme Nicastro station, Via Nazionale Nicastro.
3 Lamezia Terme Sambiase station, Via del Lavoro, 4.

By bus
Troiolo Bus, Corso Garibaldi, 185 - Siderno, ☎ +39 0964 381325, fax: +39 0964 381325, info@troiolobus.com. The company allows the direct connection of Lamezia Terme with Alessandria, Asti, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Modena Nord, Moncalieri, Naples, Novara, Parma, Pisa, Reggio Emilia, Rome, Salerno, Santhià and Turin; not all connections are daily.
Autolinee Federico, ☎ +39 0965 1700009, info@autolineefederico.it. It connects Lamezia Terme with Florence, Foggia, Genoa, La Spezia, Rome, Milan and other cities.
Flixbus. It connects Lamezia Terme with numerous Italian cities.

 

Getting around

By public transport
Lamezia Multiservizi S.p.A. is the company in charge of urban transport.

Rates
Ordinary ticket: valid for 90 minutes throughout the urban area of the municipality at a cost of €0.80;
Cumulative ticket: valid for 12 journeys of 90 minutes on the entire urban area of the municipality at a cost of € 8.00;
Monthly Subscription: at a cost of €18.00.

By car
There are many car rental companies from large companies (which usually require a credit card) especially near the airport, but there is also a local company (Calabria Car) which offers shuttle services to its headquarters also from the train station or other places.

 

Sights

Religious architecture
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, was founded by the Countess Eremburga around 1100, in Norman style, damaged several times by earthquakes, was completely destroyed with the earthquake of 1638, was rebuilt even larger, in Baroque style, by bishop Giovan Tommaso Perrone, with expansion of the building, completed in 1642. Inside you can admire an altarpiece in the Chapel of the SS. Sacrament representing the Lord's Supper and performed by the painter Francesco Colelli in 1762 as well as an 18th century processional cross and gilded busts of Saints Peter and Paul.
Mother Church of San Pancrazio. The mother church is mentioned in a document of 1595 with the name Archpriest of San Pancrazio and certifies that it was built at the behest of the University of Sambiase, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times due to various earthquakes. Initially dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie, it has three naves, nine altars and a dome with valuable stucco work. There are numerous frescoes and works attributed to Pallone and Mattia Preti, works stolen over the years by thieves. In the choir you can admire four frescoes which are, the Prophet David, the Last Supper, San Pancrazio and the Madonna with Child. Many statues of considerable value are preserved, including the Madonna delle Grazie, San Pancrazio and the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the altar of the Blessed Sacrament.
Sanctuary of Sant'Antonio di Padova. The church, officiated by the Capuchin minors, has annexed the convent, built after the earthquake of 1638. Initially with a single nave, it preserves inside, above the high altar, a large canvas with the Madonna degli Angeli, San Francesco d'Assisi and Innocent III. The church is called Santa Maria degli Angeli, later a nave was built here designed as a chapel, dedicated to Sant'Antonio. Of notable value is the painting of Sant'Antonio dated 1664, the work of the painter Giacomo Stefanone. In the nave dedicated to Sant'Antonio there is a painting by Andrea Cefaly depicting the Immaculate Conception.
Sanctuary of San Francesco di Paola. The church, known in ancient times as the church of the Madonna degli Infermi, dates back to the second half of the 1400s. On 20 June 1508, the archdeacon of the cathedral Giovanni De Senatorelli granted the existing church and the adjoining convent to the Order of the Minims of San Francesco di Paola. The Minimi fathers officially acquired it on April 3, 1520. To thank the donor after his death in 1522, the friars buried his remains inside the church itself. The earthquake of 1638 destroyed it completely and it was then rebuilt and enlarged with donations from the citizens. After the earthquake, the people asked that Saint Francis be proclaimed patron of Sambiase, and so, with the decree of 12 July 1664, Saint Francis was proclaimed protector of Sambiase iuxta preces by Pope Urban VIII. The Minimi remained there until 1866, the year in which they had to abandon it due to the continuous suppressions, and then returned there occasionally until 1955, the year in which the church of San Francesco became a parish with the Minimi. On 2 June 2017 the church of San Francesco di Paola was raised to a diocesan sanctuary by the bishop of Lamezia Terme Mons. Luigi Antonio Cantafora, during the celebration of the feast in honor of San Francesco. Inside the church are kept the wooden bust of San Francesco and the statue of the Madonna del Miracolo.
Sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso. The devotion to the Madonna del Soccorso originates from an ancient popular lauda, which speaks of the discovery in the Magolà district of a painting of the Madonna left by the French in very remote times, and placed in an icon. The church was built in 1740, inside there is a beautiful wooden statue of the Madonna who holds the Child in her arms, and keeping the devil tied, protects a little girl who clings to her dress.
Sanctuary of the Madonna della Spina. Tradition has it that a farmer from Nicastre, going into the woods to collect wood, had a vision of a "beautiful woman" who invited him to cut off the thorn bush which is still kept leaning against the wall of the church. Once the order was carried out, the man saw a wall painting appear which depicted a Madonna with Child. Having done what was requested, the lady gave him a gold coin with which she provided for the needs of the family for several weeks. Following the miraculous event, a small church was built on that site, dedicated to Santa Maria della Spina, better known however as Madonna di Bella from the neighborhood in which it is located.
Church of the Madonna del Carmine. From a Carmelite bullary it appears that Mons. Antonio Facchinetti, later Pope Innocent IX, founded the Carmine Convent in 1566 in a place where the ruins of a small church dedicated to Saint John belonged to the Benedictines of Sant'Eufemia, near the site Byzantine church of San Blasio. The church was remodeled at the end of the eighteenth century with the construction of the vault and the stucco wall which includes the wall paintings inside and surrounds the windows of the right wall on the outside. In 1809 by decree it was entrusted to the Minimi Fathers who officiated there until 1886, when due to the confiscation of the conventual assets to the State property, wanted by the Unitary State, these religious had to leave. In 1887 the State handed over the building complex to the Municipality which used part of the convent as a prison while the church was reopened for worship.
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (known as San Francesco). The ancient monastery of the reformed Friars Minor dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi was founded in 1240. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1638, it was then rebuilt at the behest of the Princes of Aquino. The church has two naves, with the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the side nave. The ceiling is vaulted. The axis of the vault is enriched by two frescoes referring to episodes from the life of Saint Francis. The apse is surmounted by a round dome. The prospectus of the main altar has a small temple in the center and four Corinthian columns that outline five niches occupied laterally by the statues of two angels, from the statue of Santa Chiara and Santa Rosa which form a crown to the statue of the Madonna Assunta or Madonna degli Angeli in the center . At the highest point of the main altar is the coat of arms of the Franciscan Order, surmounted by a cross. In addition to the parish church there is a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas, in the Calia district. The celebrations in honor of Santa Rita da Cascia take place in the month of May.
Church of San Domenico. It conserves numerous frescoes and the picture of San Domenico, which has a gilded baroque carved frame from 1647. There is also a molten and embossed silver monstrance, datable to the first half of the 19th century. Of great value is the eighteenth-century organ, in wood with gilded decoration. Of exquisite workmanship, between the first and second arch, you can admire the Grotto of the Madonna of Lourdes while in front there is a small altar dedicated to the SS. Ecce Homo. Valuable is also the statue of the Madonna del Rosario celebrated in October.
Church of the Veteran. The foundation of the church is linked to an ancient legend, according to which the Madonna delle Grazie appeared in a dream to a daughter of Frederick II of hers, telling her that she had the desire to see a small church built on the hill opposite the castle. It is called veteran because after the destruction of the cathedral it is the oldest church in Nicastro. To be noted inside is a canvas depicting the Madonna with the princess of the legend at her feet. There was also a work of great value by Francesco Colelli, only that it was stolen and the painter Giorgio Pinna reproduced it and placed it in place of the original.
Church of San Teodoro. The foundation date is not known, even if it is attested in documents starting from 1511, it has a clock from 1840, placed on the bell tower, it seems to be the only one of this type still functioning. Inside you can appreciate an organ from the 1600s and the high altar built in Baroque style dated 1861.
St Catherine's Church. The foundation date of the church is not known, the sources report only that the building was the seat of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and that it was enlarged at the end of the 16th century, a period in which the two side chapels were added.
Church of San Francesco di Paola. The church, rebuilt from scratch in the 1950s following the air raids that hit Sant'Eufemia Lamezia in 1943, is characterized by a simple red-brick facade, surmounted by a triangular tympanum under which there is a tondo with the image in relief of St. Francis of Paola.
Church of San Giovanni Battista. The church dedicated to San Giovanni Battista takes its name from the ancient church located in the Sant'Eufemia Vetere area, dating back to 1759 and included two other hamlets, the one by the sea, today Gizzeria Lido and the one of Sant'Eufemia Lamezia, this the latter initially represented by the church of San Francesco, which later became a parish center and residence. Subsequently, the new center having expanded, the opportunity was seen to build a new church and new parish premises. The new church, inaugurated on November 1, 1968, was definitively consecrated on May 9, 2005, after the restoration works and complete liturgical adaptation of the existing structure.
Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary. The church is in the shape of a hut, it houses a wonderful wooden statue of the Madonna del Rosario.
Church of San Giuseppe Artigiano. The church dedicated to San Giuseppe Artigiano, commissioned by Mons. Vincenzo Rimedio, is large, bright and welcoming. In the apse (the work of the painter from Lamezia Maurizio Carnevali) the glory of the saint is represented, the stained glass windows tell the biblical story of Joseph. It was consecrated on 1 May 1998 and entrusted to the Congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco who took office on 13 September of the same year.
Church of the Annunziata (known as Santa Lucia). The church has a clear Arab-Moreno style, confirming that - as well as the whole territory - it was affected by the consequences of the invasions and the consequent Turkish-Saracen cultures[20]. In this church there was already, in 1601, a religious congregation under the title of San Giovanni, to whom the church itself was first entitled. Then the congregation built its own chapel in the mother church and the church passed on to the name of the Annunziata. In addition, the church houses the statues of the "Mistiari", depicting the passion and death of Jesus. The church is also known as the church of Santa Lucia because there is a statue of the saint on the high altar.
Church of the Immaculate Conception. Probably built in the second half of the sixteenth century and is the seat of the congregation of the same name. A document dated 1762 addressed to King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon was found in the Sacristy.
Church of the Addolorata. The church is located in the Miraglia district. It is said that in ancient times there was a hermitage dedicated to the Madonna dei Sette Dolori, and consequently, the inhabitants built the small church.
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The church located in the hamlet of Zangarona was built in 1616, initially dedicated to San Nicola. With the earthquake of 1638 the tip of the bell tower and the big bell fell. The church has two naves, the first dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie, with a marble statue on the high altar, and the other dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament.
Church of San Giuseppe. The church located in the hamlet of Fronti has two naves and houses the wooden bust of San Giuseppe, the statues of the Madonna del Carmine, the Immaculate Conception, Sant'Antonio, the Sacred Heart and the Child Jesus.
San Benedetto inter-parish complex: the church was inaugurated on 25 March 2019.
There are also other churches, scattered among the centre, suburbs and hamlets.

 

Civil architectures

House of Francesco Fiorentino;
Franco Costabile's house;
monumental complex of San Domenico;
Palazzo Blasco;
Palazzo D'Ippolito; eighteenth-century complex, an expression of the late southern Baroque, whose origins date back to around 1763 when a series of buildings were acquired by the will of the nobleman Felice d'Ippolito. In the entrance hall there is a fresco by the painter Francesco Colelli, which depicts cherubs and the heraldic coat of arms of the d'Ippolito family. The Palace is also distinguished by the exuberant stucco decoration of the facade which in some ways assimilates it to Austrian and Hungarian architecture. The decoration of the prospectus, in fact, is exemplified on elaborate rocaille decorative models that do not find stringent analogies with Neapolitan examples, but in the southern area it relates only to some Sicilian buildings [21].
Palazzo Vescio (customer was the Franzi family but, now, for years of exclusive property of the Vescio family)
Palazzo Guzzi;
Giovanni Nicotera Palace;
Palazzo Niccoli;
Palazzo Nicotera (Monachelle);
Palazzo Nicotera (Severisio);
Palazzo Panariti;
Palazzo Statti; eighteenth-century building of the noble Statti family located in the historic district of San Teodoro, is a clear example of late Baroque architecture and one of the most representative buildings of the Calabrian eighteenth century. The main facade made up of small balconies with stylized railings is rich in inlays in the shape of shells and fans that crown the entire perimeter of the building where concave and rhythmic bays bounce in an alternating sequence. The roof is cantilevered with tiles. The monumental entrance portal, in granite stone, expresses an arch with soft and elaborate shapes[22][23].
Palace of the episcopal curia;
Episcopal Seminary Palace;
Franco Costabile Theater;
Grandinetti Theatre;
Umberto Theatre.

 

Military architectures

Bastion of Malta. The construction of the bastion dates back to 1550, when to face the continuous raids by the Saracens of the Ottoman Empire, who threatened the security and trade of the coastal cities, the viceroy of Naples don Pedro di Toledo, by order of the Spanish crown, imposed on the communities the strengthening at their expense the already existing coastal defense system. The bastion of Malta appears in the coat of arms of the City of Lamezia Terme, in a stylized form.
Norman-Swabian castle of Nicastro. It was built in the mid-11th century by the Normans to defend the plain of Sant'Eufemia from possible raiders. Subsequently it was enlarged by Frederick II, and barracks were also built inside which were then used as a prison. It was heavily damaged by the earthquake of 1638.
Sant'Antonio gate. According to some testimonies this represented the entrance door to the former municipality of Nicastro. Partly destroyed, only the two large square-plan pillars remain visible.

 

Other

Corso Numistrano;
Corso Giovanni Nicotera;
Heroes of Sapri Course;
Corso Vittorio Emanuele;
Corso della Repubblica;
Kennedy Square (Kennedy Village)
Piazza 5 December (formerly Piazza Diaz);
Republic square;
Italy Square;
Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini (formerly Piazza d'Armi);
New Market Square;
Old Market Square;
Botticelli Square;
Piazza Pietro Ardito;
Francesco Fiorentino Square;
Giuseppe Garibaldi Square;
Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore;
St. John's Square;
San Domenico square;
Piazzetta San Nicola;
Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie, in the hamlet of Zangarona.
Via del Mare;
Via del Progresso;
Via delle Terme;
Via Giuseppe Garibaldi;
Via Guglielmo Marconi;
Via Sen. Arturo Perugini;
Via XX Settembre;
Communal house in Corso Numistrano;
Villa in Piazza Garibaldi;
Garden "Adelchi Argada";
Obelisk of the Madonnina, in Piazza Pietro Ardito;
War memorial of Nicastro, on corso Numistrano;
Monument to the war dead of Sambiase, in Piazza 5 December;
Plaque to the war dead, on the facade of the former town hall of Sant'Eufemia Lamezia;
Bust of Sen. Arturo Perugini, in Piazza della Repubblica;
Bust of Francesco Fiorentino, in the homonymous square;
Bust of Giovanni Nicotera, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele;
Marble sculpture depicting a footballer with a ball, by the artist Pablo Atchugarry, in front of the Guido D'Ippolito stadium;
Statue of Frederick II of Swabia, in via Garibaldi;
Statue of the Siren Ligea created by the artist Riccardo Dalisi, on Corso Numistrano;
Statue of San Francesco, in Piazza Fiorentino;
Statue of San Nicola, in the homonymous square;
Statue of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon, in Italy square.
Fountain in the municipal villa, on Corso Numistrano;
Fountain in gush, in Piazza Mazzini;
Fountain of the satyr and the nymph, in Piazza 5 December;
Ponte Niola, in the San Teodoro district below the Norman-Swabian castle.

 

Archaeological sites

Terine. The city was founded in the 6th century BC. by the Crotoniati, who intended thus to extend their dominion over the Tyrrhenian Sea and ensure complete control of the isthmus of Marcellinara, already secured, on the Ionian coast, by the city of Skylletion. Between the 5th and 4th century BC fell, like many Greek cities of Calabria, under the dominion of the Syracusans until, in the third century BC. it was conquered by the Bruttii. In 272 BC, with the end of the war against Taranto, it fell under the authority of Rome. It was finally destroyed by Hannibal in 203 BC. because he had not wanted to side with the Carthaginians.
Caves of Mount Sant'Elia. The human presence in the Lamezia area most likely takes us back to the Neolithic period. This is thanks to the protohistoric material found in the caves of Mount Sant'Elia. Between 1914 and 1923, Paolo Orsi, in carrying out the reconnaissance in this area on several occasions, in particular in the karst area of Mount Sant'Elia, had the opportunity to record in his notebook the discovery and recovery by the carabinieri of clay materials according to his opinion referable to the Neolithic age.
Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Eufemia. The Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria was founded by Robert Guiscard in the 11th century in the area of a previous Byzantine monastery, in Sant'Eufemia, and is an expression, together with the nearby Norman-Swabian castle, of some of the most of the Norman conquest. The ruins of the complex remain which allow a rough reading of its internal layout, characterized by the remains of the church and the cloister area. Of the church you can see the main façade with the remains of the two bell towers, the internal division into three naves illuminated by a series of arched windows, and part of the presbytery area with the transept, which culminated in the east with the three apses. The construction technique is already known in other Norman monuments, just as the use of architectural elements from the Roman era is part of the Norman tradition of underlining the greatness of the monarchy using materials from the Roman Empire.
Secular walls. According to the theories that underlie the history of construction technology, the juxtaposition and sedimentation (natural phase) of large shards of stone, superficially elementary and rough, therefore unworked, characterize the first period of the architectural culture of ancient Greece. According to Borrello these and other walls derive from a famous village of Magna Graecia, Melea. However, this statement is contrasted by a series of studies carried out on the ancient walls and on Roman tabules including the Peuntigerian, which affirm the passage of the Roman road Popilia which connected Reggio Calabria to Capua, from the walls, therefore of greater historical importance.
St. Constantine Monastery. The ancient Basilian monastery of San Costantino is located in the locality of San Sidero, a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Carmine is annexed to the monastery. It is owned by Baron Nicotera.

 

Natural areas

"Falcone-Borsellino" seafront and coastal garden located between the localities of Marinella and Cafarone;
"Ginepri" waterfront and coastal garden located in Ginepri;
Park "April 25";
"Comuni" Park and Botanical Garden: the botanical garden, created starting in 1972, includes a variety of plants that exceeds a thousand species. A project is underway with the aim of recovering an area of particular environmental value and making it usable also through the creation of structures useful for educating citizens to respect nature;
"Mitoio" park: to the north of the town of the Caronte spa, in a naturalistic oasis of 250 hectares, an amphitheater with 2,500 seats has been recovered, thus allowing all citizens to enjoy a Mediterranean maquis;
"Peppino Impastato" Park;
"Piedichiusa" park;
River Park "Felice Mastroianni";
Gancìa Nature Park;
"Madonna del Soccorso" urban park;
"San Pietro Lametino" urban park: the urban park is a large green lung of about 15,000 m² in the heart of the hamlet of San Pietro Lametino.

 

Shopping

1 Agorà Shopping Centre, Via Basilio Sposato. Mon-Sat 09:00 – 20:00 / Sun 09:00 – 13:30 / 16:00 - 20:00.
2 Due Mari Shopping Center, Località Comuni Condomini, 88025, Maida, ☎ +39 342 6765296, info@centrocommercialeduemari.it. The largest shopping center in Calabria, located in the adjacent municipality of Maida, a few kilometers from the center of Lamezia Terme.

 

How to have fun

Shows
The Space Cinema, Località Comuni Condomini, 88025, Maida. €8.90 (Ticket Office) - €7.90 (Online). Cinema.

Night clubs
Henry Morgan Pub, Località Marinella, 88046, Lamezia Terme, ☏ +39 3334573777.
Enigma Disco, Contrada Maruca, 88046, Lamezia Terme.

 

Where to eat

Average prices
1 Novecento, Largo S. Antonio 5, 88046 Lamezia Terme, ☎ +39 0968448625, ristowine@libero.it.
2 Osteria degli Artisti, Via Garibaldi, 4, 88046, Lamezia Terme, ☎ +39 328 2519187. Mon-Fri 12:45-14:15 / 19:30-23:00 Sat 19:30-23:00.

 

Where stay

Average prices
1 Hotel Savant, Via Capitano Manfredi, 8, ☎ +39 096826161, info@hotelsavant.it.
2 b&b Magna Grecia, Contrada Maruca, 16 - Lamezia Terme, ☎ +393339772080, info@bbmagnagrecia.it. Check-in: 2.00pm, check-out: 10.30am. Bed & breakfasts
3 Hotel Cantagalli, Via San Rocco, 17, ☎ +39 0968 437107, info@hotelilcantagalli.com. 4 star hotel.

High prices
4 Albergo Centrale, Piazza San Giovanni, ☎ +39 0968 359603, info@albergocentrale.eu. Check-in: 2.00pm, check-out: 11.00am.
5 Grand Hotel Lamezia, Piazza Lamezia, ☎ +39 096853021, fax: +39 096853024, info@grandhotellamezia.it. 4 star hotel.

 

Safety

Police
Municipal Police, Via Senatore Arturo Perugini, 15, ☎ +39 0968 22130, fax: +39 0968 26257. Mon-Sun 09:00-12:00.
State Police, Via Senatore Arturo Perugini, ☎ +39 0968 203211, fax: +39 0968 2032577, comm.lameziaterme.cz@pecps.poliziadistato.it. Mon-Wed-Fri 10:00-12:00 Thu 15:00-17:00.
Carabinieri - Lamezia Terme station, Via Guglielmo Marconi, 110, ☎ +39 0968 287629, stcz423210@carabinieri.it. Mon-Sun 24h.
Carabinieri - Sambiase station, Via Luigi Settembrini, 128, ☎ +39 0968 436810, fax: +39 0968 436810, stcz423230@carabinieri.it. Mon-Sun 08:00-22:00.
Carabinieri - Sant'Eufemia Station, Piazza Italia, 4, ☎ +39 0968 411277, fax: +39 0968 411277, stcz423220@carabinieri.it. Mon-Sun 09:30-17:00.

 

Health

"John Paul II" Hospital, Via Senatore Arturo Perugini, ☎ +39 0968 2081.
Roperto Pharmacy, Corso Giovanni Nicotera, 73, ☎ +39 0968 21457, info@farmaciacarmenroperto.com. Mon-Fri 8:00–13:00 / 16:00–20:00 Sat 8:00–13:00.
International Pharmacy, Via dei Mille, snc, ☎ +39 0968 26496, Farmacia@internazionalelamezia.it. Mon-Fri 08:30-20:00 Sat 08:30-13:30 / 16:30-19:30.
Farmacia dei Bizantini, Via dei Bizantini, 41, ☎ +39 334 7511635, Farmaciabizantini@gmail.com. Mon-Sat 08:30–20:00.

 

How to keep in touch

Post
Poste Italiane - Post office, Piazza Roma, 5, ☎ +39 0968 200111, fax: +39 0968 200111. Mon-Fri 08:20-13:45 Sat 08:20-12:45.
Poste Italiane - Lamezia Terme post office, Via Fabio Filzi, 8, ☎ +39 0968 491217, fax: +39 0968 491202. Mon-Fri 08:20-19:05 Sat 08:20-12:35.
Poste Italiane - Post Office Lamezia 2, Piazza Stocco, 3, ☎ +39 0968 29843, fax: +39 0968 29843. Mon-Fri 08:20-13:35 Sat 08:20-12:35.
Poste Italiane - Post Office Lamezia 3, Via Aldo Moro, 40, ☎ +39 0968 25388, fax: +39 0968 25388. Mon-Fri 08:20-19:05 Sat 08:20-12:35.
Poste Italiane - Sambiase post office, Piazza 5 December, 1, ☎ +39 0968 437364, fax: +39 0968 432323. Mon-Fri 08:20-19:05 Sat 08:20-12:35.
Poste Italiane - Sambiase 1 post office, Corso Eroi di Sapri, 118, ☎ +39 0968 437195, fax: +39 0968 437195. Mon-Wed-Fri 08:20-13:45.

 

Banks

Unicredit, Piazza Rotonda, 2, ☎ +39 0968 347003, fax: +39 0968 340400, ag00582@unicredit.eu. Mon-Fri 08:20-13:20 / 14:30-16:00.
BNL, Corso Giovanni Nicotera, 79, ☎ +39 060060. Mon-Fri 08:20-13:30 / 14:45-16:15.
Intesa Sanpaolo, Piazza Francesco Fiorentino, ☎ +39 0968 432585. Mon-Fri 8:30-13:00 / 14:00-16:15.
Intesa Sanpaolo, Via Tevere, 1, ☎ +39 0968 286511. Mon-Fri 8:30-13:00 / 14:00-16:15.
BPER Banca, Via Loriedo, ☎ +39 0968 448428, fax: +39 0968 25731. Mon-Fri 08:30-13:30 / 14:50-15:50.

 

Territory

Lamezia Terme is the city with the largest territorial extension of the entire province and the eighth in the region.

The municipal territory of Lamezia Terme includes eight kilometers of the Feaci coast on the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia, a part of the Lametine plain and the hilly and mountainous areas that extend up to Monte Mancuso and is between 0 and 1311 meters above sea level. The city of the plain is located approximately halfway between the Tyrrhenian coast and the Calabrian Apennines and is located at the western end of the Marcellinara isthmus, the narrowest strip of land on the Italian peninsula, where the Tyrrhenian is in the line of air about thirty kilometers from the Ionian Sea.

Among the main waterways of the area we find the Amato river, which over the millennia has formed the plain of Sant'Eufemia, and some of its tributaries, the Cantagalli, Piazza and Canne streams. We also find the Bagni torrent, famous for the sulphurous waters of the Baths of Caronte and in whose alluvial plain lie the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Terina, and the Zinnavo torrent which marks the natural border with the municipality of Gizzeria.

Seismic classification: zone 1 (high seismicity), PCM Ordinance n. 3274 of 20/03/2003

 

Climate

The climate of Lamezia Terme is, like most of the Mediterranean cities, generally mild, with limited changes between winter and summer. However, there are some continental points, probably favored by the relative distance from the sea of ​​the reference meteorological station, located at the airport of Lamezia Terme. The lowest values ​​are a few degrees below zero and are found in the presence of cold air events, coming from the north-east (December 1988, February 1992, December 2001, February 2008) and moderate phenomena of thermal inversion. On the other hand, the highest, close to or slightly above 40 degrees, occur in the presence of heat waves of African origin (July 2005, June 2007, August 2007).

 

Origins of the name

The city takes its name from the river Amato, once called Lametos, which crosses it in its most peripheral part. This name was originally given only to the former municipality of Sant'Eufemia Lamezia. With the administrative union of 1968, the name of Lamezia was chosen for the entire city, to which Terme was added, due to the Terme di Caronte which are located in the homonymous fraction of the former municipality of Sambiase.

 

History

Lamezia Terme is formally a fairly recent agglomeration, since the municipality was established on 4 January 1968, at the behest of the Nicastrese senator Arturo Perugini, from the administrative union of three inhabited centres, which, before that date, constituted separate municipalities ( Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia Lamezia), and which today are considered real neighborhoods. The history of Lamezia Terme therefore includes those of the three former municipalities, whose territories were inhabited even many centuries before these centers arose. There are archaeological finds that testify to the presence in its territory of communities from the Italic period and the Magna Graecia period.

According to some authors, the ancient Greek city of Terina stood in the Lamezia area, founded by settlers from Crotone in the 5th century BC. According to these authors, the first material evidence dates back to 1865, when, in the Terravecchia district, a gold diadem and a treasure trove of jewels dating back to the 3rd century BC, which were then sold to the British Museum in London at the end of the 19th century. In the area of Sant'Eufemia Vetere numerous coin hoards have been found several times. Some of these coins depict the siren Ligea, whose body, according to the tradition reported by Lycophron, was shipwrecked near Terina after having tried to charm Ulysses, and was buried here by some sailors, near the river Ocinaro (the current Bagni ). In 1955, on the other hand, in the Cerzeto district, during the excavation of a vineyard, a red-figure hydria was accidentally found, decorated with scenes from the gynaeceum and datable to the first quarter of the 4th century BC. The object is kept in the Lametino Archaeological Museum.

In the Middle Ages two of the three settlements that make up the current Lamezia Terme were born, quite different from each other but in fact complementary. Nicastro with a predominantly commercial vocation and Sambiase with an agricultural vocation, while the settlement of Sant'Eufemia Lamezia has more recent origins, having arisen with a group of houses around the main railway station, which had previously constituted the headquarters of the reclamation consortium of swamps. However, the toponym of Sant'Eufemia derives from another settlement of medieval origin not far away, located around the ancient Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Eufemia, in the area currently called Sent'Eufemia Vetere.

The merger proposed by Sen. Arturo Perugini was born from the need to create a strong urban agglomeration capable of making the most of the resources made available by the municipal area. The Perugini bill to unite the municipalities was certainly nothing new; about forty years earlier, in fact, it had already been conceived by another member of parliament from Nicastre, Sen. Salvatore Renda. He was driven by the wave of policies of populating the countryside implemented during the fascist dictatorial regime. In the same period (1927) is the constitution of the Grande Reggio which united 14 small municipalities especially in the hilly areas. The idea was even to make Nicastro a province. The law concerned the union of the municipalities of Nicastro and Sambiase, since the municipality of Sant'Eufemia Lamezia had not yet been established. The latter municipality, in fact, will be founded by the will of the fascist regime around the pre-existing railway nucleus called "Sant'Eufemia Bifurcation", with the law of 8 April 1935 n. 639. But the claims and ambitions raised in 1927 by Sen. Renda were not accepted by the administrators of the municipality of Sambiase who did not want to give up their autonomy and above all fall back under the name of Nicastre.

In the session of 18 October 1967, the 1st permanent parliamentary commission (Presidency of the Council and Interior Affairs) of the Senate of the Republic approved the "Constitution of the Municipality of Lamezia Terme, in the province of Catanzaro", thanks to the bill of the 'Hon. Salvatore Forsero, jointly with that on the initiative of Sen. Arturo Perugini. On Wednesday 20 December 1967 the Chamber of Deputies approves the law as it was conceived by Perugini and becomes Law 4 January 1968 nº6 referred to in art. 1 says verbatim: "The municipalities of Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia Lamezia in the province of Catanzaro are united in a single municipality with the name of Lamezia Terme".

The decree implementing the law establishing the new municipality foresaw the appointment of a prefectural commissioner and on 15 November 1968 the mayors of the three municipalities made deliveries to the state representative at the helm of the city. His mandate should have lasted only for a semester, but lasted until the spring of 1970, as the Government decided that the first elections of the new municipality should have been held in the national electoral session of June 1970, when for the first time also held the elections for the Calabria Region, established in that period. The first mayor of Lamezia Terme was Arturo Perugini who took office on 28 September 1970.

In the years 1991, 2002 and 2017, the municipal council of Lamezia Terme was dissolved due to mafia infiltration with a decree of the President of the Republic, the investigations carried out by the commissions for accessing the documents, in the municipality, found the pollution of the public administration by part of the 'Ndrangheta, thanks to connections with some local administrators.

 

History of the three former municipalities

Nicastro
The history of Nicastro begins in the Byzantine era between the 9th and 10th centuries, with the construction of the military outpost Neo Castrum, or new city assisted by fortification works, from which today's neighborhood takes its name. The new Byzantine center perched on the first hills dominating the coast and the plain of Santa Eufemia, also controlling the Isthmian communication routes. In Norman times, on a pre-existing structure, the castle was built to protect the rich plain. In the Swabian era, the emperor Frederick II also stayed there, and the castle was also used as a prison for the latter's rebellious son, Prince Enrico, known as lo Sciancato. According to a local tradition, Nicastro, the most populous district of Lamezia, would be one of the oldest cities in Italy founded by Askenaz, great-grandson of Noah, who moved from Armenia to Calabria and was inhabited by Ausoni and Enotri. The city has also been identified with the ancient Numistro or Numistra, for this reason the main street of the city has been called Corso Numistrano. Others have identified Nicastro with Lissania, a city founded at the beginning of the Christian era. Contemporary historiographers tend to exclude these hypotheses by placing the foundation towards the eighth century.

Sambiase
Sambiase was born around the 9th century, around the monastery of San Biagio, the saint from whose name derives, through successive linguistic transformations, that of today's quarter of the city. Over the years numerous churches were built within the city. Of the original thirteen, however, only five remain standing, while the others have been destroyed or transformed by the citizens of the time into homes or commercial shops. Even earlier in Roman times with the name of Due Torri, Sambiase was known as a tourist destination, for the thermal baths of Magna Graecia origins, then called Aquae Angae. During the Hellenic period in southern Italy and in the current territory of Lamezia Terme, precisely in Sambiase, the citadel of Melea and part of the city of Terina settled. Few traces remain of this civilization, only a mosaic from a Greek villa in the Carmine church, Terinese coins in Charon and the Acquafredda treasure (both fractions of Lamezia Terme), preserved in the Lamezia archaeological museum.

Sant'Eufemia Lamezia
Sant'Eufemia Lamezia has a very ancient history, documented since Norman times, and was the seat of a bailiwick assigned to the order of the Knights of Jerusalem, now known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. In addition to the bailiwick of Sant'Eufemia, the order also owned the neighboring fiefdoms of Nocera Terinese and Izzaria (today Gizzeria). Following the disastrous earthquake of 28 March 1638, which had seen the city as its epicenter, a new centre, that of Sant'Eufemia del Golfo (now Sent'Eufemia Vetere), was founded in a nearby hilly area. With the end of the bailiwick, the territory of Sant'Eufemia became part of the municipality of Gizzeria, while the current district was built during the Fascist period.