Nicotera and Tropea

(NICOTERENSIS ET TROPEIENSIS)

Suffragan diocese of Reggio di Calabria. Nicotera, the ancient Medama, is a city of the Province of Catanzaro, in Calabria, Italy ; it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1783. Its first known bishop was Proculus, to whom, with others, a letter of St. Gregory the Great was written in 599. With the exception of Sergius (787), none of its bishops is known earlier than 1392. Under Bishop Charles Pinti, the city was pillaged by the Turks. In 1818, it was united on equal terms ( aeque principaliter ) with the Diocese of Tropea. This city is situated on a reef, in the gulf of St. Euphemia connected with the mainland by a narrow strip. It is the birthplace of the painter Spanò, the anatomists Pietro and Paolo Voiani, and the philosopher Pasquale Galluppi. It has a beautiful cathedral, restored after its destruction by the earthquake of 1783. Here the Greek Rite was formerly used. Only three bishops before the Norman conquest are known; the first, Joannes, is referred to the year 649; among its other prelates was Nicolò Acciapori (1410), an eminent statesman. The diocese has 72 parishes, with 78,000 inhabitants, a Franciscan house, and a house of the Sisters of Charity.