’Aspromonte, the extreme point of Calabria that stands out in the heart of the Mediterranean, from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages has been a place of conquests, settlements and exchanges, which have made it a land, rich in history, where nature and culture interpenetrate.

Among the huge monoliths, the high waterfalls, the deep rivers, the citrus groves and the olive trees, the magno-Greek and Roman vestiges are still clearly visible which, in addition to civilization, have given to this wild land, where different cultures dialogue and opposites coexist, a rich cultural heritage that still remains alive today in traditions, architecture and art. There are many places in Aspromonte where traces of ancient settlements are still visible today and among these is the territory of Oppido Mamertina where, since the early 1900s, a vast and relevant archaeological heritage has been discovered.

The discoveries: from the necropolis areas in Castellace to the Brettio town of Mella

The area of ​​Oppido Mamertina is particularly important for the discoveries, largely fortuitous, dating back to the Hellenistic-Roman age. Of these findings, the first were the 14 Hellenistic tombs identified in 1904 in the locality of Chiese Carcate on the terrace of Varapodio, a few kilometers from the town of Oppido. Subsequently, in the 1920s, another 11 tombs were discovered on the plateau of Torre Inferrata di Castellace, a hamlet of Oppido.

Subsequently, in the 1920s, another 11 tombs were discovered on the plateau of Torre Inferrata di Castellace, a hamlet of Oppido.

These are tombs that can be traced back to a Bronze-Iron Age necropolis and one to the 4th century BC. Inside, numerous objects of funerary objects were found, particularly important not only for their artistic value but above all because they indicated the contacts and exchanges with the Balkan, Aegean and Eastern areas that had taken place over the centuries. The burial discovered in 1932 in Famogreco di Castellace was interesting for its construction type. Based on the objects of the trousseau (andirons, spits and lead candlestick) found inside, the tomb is ascribed to the Italic cultural sphere. In the 1980s, other discoveries indicated a stable and organized occupation of this pre-Promontan Tyrrhenian area from the 4th to the 1st century BC. In fact, the investigations launched at the end of the 1980s in the locality of Mella have brought to light an inhabited center attributable to the Taurian brettii who settled there permanently from the third century BC. The distinctive sign of its belonging to this people were the branded bricks found on the site, typologically identical to those discovered in Mella in 1926. The documentation of the Greek age of this territory is rather incomplete, as the only finds of numismatic material are:  a treasure of Syracusan coins found in the locality of Mella and some coins found in Castellace; few ceramic forms of geometric and ionic tradition (VII - VI century BC) and black paint also of miniaturistic type (VI - V century BC) found in Castellace in 1939; the bronze cap helmet and the well-known votive plate with the dedication to Heracles from Reggio found at the Torre Inferrata site. The certainty of an organized presence in the classical age was given, on the other hand, by the investigations launched by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Calabria from the 90s on the plateau of Torre Cillea, separated from the neighboring one of Torre Inferrata by the narrow Cattivello valley. The structures found in this area have made it possible to establish the role played by the site in the context of territorial settlement dynamics as early as the late Archaic period. Also in Tresilico, another fraction of Oppido Mamertina, according to some sources, until the 1950s chest and pit burials with capuchin roofs were found, attributable to small nuclei of necropolis of the III and II century BC, but today it is impossible to verify their reliability since the area was affected by private building works and road modernization. In the urban center of Oppido, on the other hand, a sepulchral nucleus dating back to the seventh century AD was found, while in the district of Santa Venere, which is located about half a kilometer from the center, there is talk of the discovery of a tomb from the late imperial age. At the end of the 1980s, 5 tombs were unearthed in the San Pietro district, inside of which coins of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius were found, that were placed in the arc of the second century AD.

Between the Boscaino river and the Tricucio, surrounded by olive groves, stands the center of the Taurians in the locality of Mella, a classic example of how the Brettii preferred the inland areas that were easier to defend. During the excavations, it was framed as inhabited due to the short stretch of cobbled road that included, at the bottom, a channel in semicircular tiles positioned in pairs, bearing the stamp in the genitive plural TAYPIANOYM. The urban model seems to refer to that typical of the Magna - Greek centers of the III - II century BC. The excavations highlighted the posteriority of the aqueduct, dating back to the end of the second - first half of the first century BC, while the cobblestones date back to the third century BC. From further investigations carried out, it was possible to establish a previous phase of abandonment (mid 4th - mid 3rd century BC). A slightly concave, 70-meter long stretch of the road axis was unearthed, characterized by the presence of five spines together with three small channels, shallow and contemporary with its layout. On the north side the axis stops at the edge of the plateau, while on the south side it is certain that it continues beyond the area affected by the excavation. On both sides of the road axis, several rooms with different functional destinations were found, attributable to three buildings on the east side and at least two others on the west side. Ten other rooms, with a rectangular plan, have been identified in the southern part; here it was possible to identify environments also intended for storage and processing of foodstuffs. In room nine, attributable to the residential part of the building, there is the floor level, the only one in cocciopesto found. The data acquired on the eastern side of the road axis, such as the presence of at least two ambitus (earth circuit around the houses, used to ensure adequate construction distances between the buildings, ed), made it possible to define the planimetry of this residential sector. The peculiarity is that below the levels of Hellenistic accommodation a phase of the protohistoric age was intercepted, which can even be traced back to the Iron Age. In the first excavation campaign, which took place in the 1980s, three buildings were unearthed, and in the subsequent ones, carried out between 2006 and 2008, the goal was to complete the perimeter of at least one of those buildings and to proceed with the checks useful for the certain definition of the distribution of housing lots. In building I with a square plan, for example, it was possible to define the perimeter and the internal articulation, thus passing from the nine already known rooms to fourteen. The planimetric organization is typical of the domestic architecture of the Hellenistic period, attested by the large central courtyard onto which the rooms open. During the various excavation campaigns, it was therefore possible to document the different phases of life of the Brettio center, given by internal plan changes, by construction details of the buildings and by a different functional destination of the rooms. The phases cover an arc between the end of the third, the beginning of the second and the first thirty years of the first century BC. In addition, there are clear traces of further buildings that can be traced back to the 1st century AD.

Oppido Vecchia and its castle

In the appreciation of some lands of central-southern Calabria, commissioned by Ferrante I after the war of 1459-1464, among the list of assets that were located in Oppido, a castle is not listed but a half-ruined palace is. The importance of the site is evident from the fact that in 1490 the city was taxed for 326 ducats, falling among the 12 of the 130 inhabited areas of Calabria Ultra that had such a tax. Only 15 other sites were taxed for over 390 ducats, of these 8 on the 400 ducat band and 3 (Terranova, Reggio and Taverna) on that of 1000 ducats. Two documents from the late fifteenth century confirm its importance, testifying that in 1489 Oppido was inspected by the heir to the throne, the Duke of Calabria, and that on November 12, 1494, the treasurer of Calabria Ultra was given to pay a garrison of 6 men who had to defend the castle, "very important strategically". In those years Oppido belonged to Giovanni Antonio Caracciolo, son of Berardo and Enrichetta de Ascaris, who died before 1510 and whose inheritance came to Giovanni, precisely the land of Oppido. The succession was registered in 1513. On 28 October 1530, Giovanni Antonio was proclaimed Count of Oppido by the emperor Charles V. In 1611 Oppido with the hamlets was bought by Carlo Spinelli, third prince of Cariati, by the countess Isabella Caracciolo who, heir di Ferrante, sold to satisfy the brother's debts. According to studies, the fortification underwent a radical transformation motivated by the changed war requirements, in the second half of the 16th century or at the beginning of the 17th century. In fact, the south-east curtain wall was doubled and the east and west circular towers incorporated into two spear-shaped bastions with an escarpment base. The castle of Oppido has a quadrangular plan typology with bastions at the corners, typical of the Viceregno, which was the most widespread in Calabria starting from the mid-sixteenth century, this plan being the one that could best be adapted to the various conditions of the land, graduating, according to the cases, the height of the towers and curtains to absorb the slopes. In fact, in Oppido, the ramparts have different heights to hide the different height of the land. The type of bastion built is at an acute angle, "arrow", with sides perpendicular to the lines of defense. The best preserved is the western one, which incorporates a slightly elliptical and vaulted internal tower. An annular staircase, built into the wall thickness, made it possible to reach the upper level from the inside. The three bastions, which have been preserved until the crowning, have very well-kept architectural elements. The castle is also characterized by large bilobed merlons, which underline an interesting defense system. Some documents of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries speak of the presence in the castle of male and female prisons, while a notarial deed of the eighteenth century also gives news of a chapel, of which, however, no traces remain. Today the predominant aspect of the fortification is the late sixteenth century, of considerable monumentality due to the width and height of the curtains and ramparts.

The earthquake of 1783

The conformation of Oppido Vecchia can be observed in Pacichelli's seventeenth-century view, which is quite exact when compared with the structures that have survived. From the view it appears that within the walls of Oppido, there were the convents of San Francesco da Paola and of the Zoccolanti, the Church of San Nicolò, the Monte di Pietà, the seat, the bishopric and the castle. In the walls there were two doors: the Porta di sopra and the Porta dabbasso. Outside the walls, the Capuchins and the church of Santa Maria. In the engraving the castle has a perfectly regular plan, with the rooms arranged along two curtains and with three bastions at the top, as it appears today despite the collapses that occurred following the terrible earthquake of February 5, 1783. The earthquake, whose epicenter  took place in the Saline Valley, the current Piana di Gioia Tauro, completely destroyed the city of Oppido and caused its abandonment.

"Atlante 1783" is the experimental documentary by the oppidesi-born director Maria Giovanna Cicciari, who in 2016 brought the story of Oppido Mamertina to the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. Presented in the Si @ Sic section of the 31st International Critics' Week in Venice, the documentary started from the memories of the landscape up to the nefarious event that destroyed and completely changed the geology of the Calabrian territories, marking deep mind the story of Oppido.

Between myth and reality

The novel by Antonio Roselli is called "The Countess of Oppido", set right in the village at the foot of the Aspromonte. Retracing great historical events, the writer puts the spotlight on an ancient story, handed down by word of mouth, made up of plots, intrigues, loves and passions, which has always been considered a legend, but which perhaps is not really a legend. In 1501, while the Aragonese throne of Naples was overthrown with bloody conflicts, the Duchess Isabella D'Aragona, niece of King Federico, who for a short period had been in temporary command of the kingdom, announced the death sentence for the Count Antonello Caracciolo, feudal lord of Oppido, consisting of a public beheading. The decision of the Duchess takes place following the dramatic events that revolve around the village, where the Count, supported by his henchmen and a virtuous prelate, had for years carried out his oppression against the plebs and satisfied the most excessive sexual pleasures. The last of his desires will be Irene Malarbì, the beautiful daughter of the old goatherd Bruno.

Oppido Mamertina is a city that has always fascinated for its millennial history, made of splendor, devastation and rebirth. From its destruction following the earthquake of 1783 to the present day, passing through a long and tiring reconstruction, it has left an indelible mark on the pages of Calabria's history. There are many universities that have dealt with this village in the heart of Aspromonte over the years. The last, in chronological order, is "La Sapienza" in Rome, which in these days has seen its students engaged, armed with drones, in an in-depth investigation of the evocative ruins of the ancient city.