L’area of ancient Taureana is locatable in the territory where today lies the municipality of Palmi, morphologically identifiable with a series of cultivable plateaus, made up of Pleistocene marine terraces, divided into several orders until reaching the first rugged Aspromonte foothills. Particularly visible from Palmi on days when the winds blow from the north, are the Aeolian archipelago and the northeastern coast of Sicily, whose artistic-commercial connection with this territory since the protohistoric age is also documented by findings of obsidian and the same ceramic classes. Strategic is the location of this territory almost at the entrance of the Strait area – known to the ancient Greeks and the Romans as Fretum Siculum and feared for the danger of its crossing due to uncontrollable winds and currents – a location that favored its insertion in maritime trade routes, typical of the Mediterranean area, always. Even today the Pilot Guide advises against sailing in the Strait of Messina, so it is essential that sailors know well the pattern of currents, eddies, whirlpools, and the direction of the winds. Historically this area marked the northern limit of the Tyrrhenian chora of the Chalcidian colony of Rhegion, founded in the last quarter of the 8th century BC by the city of Zancle, today’s Messina, for the control of the Strait also on the Calabrian side. It was contiguous to the colonial center of Metauros, founded in the 7th century BC near the mouth of the homonymous river, known to the ancients for tuna fishing. The river, whose basin was characterized by numerous tributaries that reached the Aspromonte massif, constituted an important navigation route through which the connection with the inland areas was ensured.
Information about the Archaeological Park of Taureani
Locality Taureana
Palmi (Reggio di Calabria)
0965812255
sar-cal@beniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
