Motta Sant'Agata

Motta Sant'Agata, known until the 1400s as Sant'Agata di Reggio, was an important settlement in what is now the province of Reggio Calabria. It was destroyed by the earthquake of 1783.

The ancient town of Sant'Agata stood on a narrow flat area at the top of the rock.

It is hard to say exactly who founded it and when. Some historians link Sant'Agata's past to the mythical Tisia (a town known in Roman times), but this is not well supported. Archaeological finds (tombs, coins and pottery) show it was inhabited from Greek and Roman times.

In the Middle Ages, especially during the Saracen raids, it was a refuge from Arab plundering; the Arabs managed to take the town around 921-924 and in 976-977. Little is known of the Norman and Swabian periods, but many documents describe its history under the Angevins, when it was free of feudal rule and enjoyed municipal autonomy, though Reggio challenged this during the reign of Joanna I. In the last years of Aragonese rule Sant'Agata fell under a feudal lord again, but soon freed itself. Parchments from the 1500s show that Sant'Agata was a municipality independent both from nearby Reggio and from any feudal lord.

The history of Motta Sant'Agata ended tragically at 1 pm on 5 February 1783, when a terrible earthquake almost completely destroyed the old town. A later royal decree of Ferdinand II ordered it to be rebuilt at the present site of Gallina.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · translated from Italian