Tauriana

Tauriana

Shown within Italy
Alternative name	Taureana, Taurianum
Location	Palmi, Province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Region	Bruttium
Coordinates	38°22′N 15°51′E / 38.367°N 15.850°E / 38.367; 15.850Coordinates: 38°22′N 15°51′E / 38.367°N 15.850°E / 38.367; 15.850
Type	Settlement

Tauriana or Taureana (Taurianum in Latin, Ταυρανία in Greek) is an ancient city of the Bruttii which was located in the southern part of Calabria, in present Taurianova, Reggio Calabria province.

History

Its ruins were located in the territory of Palmi. The city's name derives from the Italic peoples who founded it, the Tauriani.

The city, which stood on the south bank of the river Metauros (probably Petrace), marked the border of the territory of Reggio Calabria on the Tyrrhenian coast north-west, which began more than that of Locri. Later Roman and later Byzantine Tauriana was destroyed by the Saracens in the middle of the 10th century. Most of the archaeological finds today are in the Archaeological Park of Tauriani.

A frazione of the town of Palmi currently bears the name of Taureana.

Ecclesiastical history

From circa 600 (others say the 3rd or 4th century) Taurianum was also the see of a Catholic diocese, in the ecclesiastical province of Reggio Calabria. In its territory was born and lived in Saint Fantino the Elder alias the Wonderworker, the oldest saint of Calabria (not be confused with St. Fantinus the Younger). The crypt where his remains were buried, below the 'Temple' of Santo Fantino, is the oldest Catholic place of worship in the region.

In 1040 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Oppido Mamertina.

In 1093 it was suppressed, its territory being merged into the Diocese of Mileto.

External links and sources

• GCatholic