History of Gerace

Built on a sandstone, Gerace was an area of ancient people, as evidenced by the discovery of several prehistoric burial sites, from Neolithic times. The city was founded during the Middle Ages by some refugees who deserted Locri for the raids of the Saracens, between the end of the seventh and  the beginning of the eighth centuries AD, choosing the site for its natural characteristics related to good defence capabilities.

Gerace was a very important administrative and religious center of the Byzantine Empire, repeatedly attacked and plundered by the Arabs, who conquered the city in the late tenth century; it was also one of the most important and oldest diocese of Calabria. The Byzantine, fearing attacks by the Saracens,  garrisoned their places with well-armed fortresses. At that time, presumably dates back the establishment of  the Gerace Castle , then restored, according to the chronicler Geofrroi Malaterra (11th century), by Count Ruggero (1031-1101). At the same time the Byzantines created a Magistrature with full powers, or the “Catapan”, who settled in Bari.

Gerace was definitely a period of remarkable growth under the dominion of the Normans;  in 1059 Robert Guiscard(1015-1085) took possession not only of the City of Cariati but also of   Rossano, Cosenza and Gerace in Calabria, which passed from the dominion of the Byzantines to the Normans.

Later the city was dominated by the Swabians with Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250), by Angevin and by Count Caracciolo, a powerful feudal lord; then conquered by the Anjou (1266),  Gerace was raised to the role of county in the next century. In 1480 was abolished the cult of the Greek ritual,  the ancient Byzantine heritage,  in favour of the Latin cult. Passed to the Aragonese, it became a marquisate. In the seventeenth century the city suffered severe damage to major seismic events that heavily damaged some ancient Byzantine and Norman buildings, which had to be so strong changes.

The last lords of Gerace were the “Grimaldi”, who obtained the  feud in 1609 and they would carry it until the early nineteenth century. After a brief pause of French domination (1806-1815), Gerace was conquered by the Bourbons of the  Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , who ruled it until the unification of Italy (1861).

Etymology for Gerace

We observe immediately that the etymology of Gerace poses significant problems of interpretation for scholars, because some  think that the name derives from the Greek-Byzantine "Aghia Kyriaki" ("Santa Ciriaca") or "Jerà Akis” (Sacred Crest), while others from "Jerax", "Ieràkos", "vulture", "Hawk." G.B. Pellegrini so discusses about the problem: "[...] 'Gerace' was founded in the ninth century by refugees from Locri. In IX-X centuries it was documented as 'Aghia Kuriaké” ("Santa Ciriaca"), but in 1179 we find in the documents already ‘episcopos Ieràkos’, in 1140 'astu Gherkìon ', and derives from the Greek ‘ieràki’ (hawk)  as 'Gerac-i' in Sicily (Palermo Province) [...]" (See G.B. Pellegrini, "Italian Toponymy", Hoepli, 1990: 82).

In fact the two etymologies  “Aghia Kuriaké” and “ieràki” have both a strong chance of hitting the right, as we shall see. The old coat of arms depicting a hawk, because, according to legend, after the Arab raid in 915, the survivors of Locri founded the new town of Gerace, following the flight hailed as a hawk on a rocky hill. The falcon has always been considered a "sacred animal" at all ancient peoples: "[...] The sparrow hawk, sacred bird ('Ierax', 'ieròs'), fast, powerful, represented in the monuments of the Assyrians as a being that placed in  the tree  of the world, the falcon, which is active, ready, strong ('Kuhn'), a Vedic symbol, at the Gauls sacred [...]" (See Tommaso Folia, " Delle principali idee sul mondo ", in" Rivista Contemporanea ", Torino, 1862, Vol. 29: 451). We should not forget that the Greek root "ier-" not only gives "ier-ax" (sparrow hawk ") but also" ier-eion "(animal for sacrifice)," ier-eus "(priest) "ier-euo" (action of the priest), "ier-e" (priestess); so it is reasonable to assume that the etymology of "Gerace" is connected with the concept of "sacred" and "priestly." For this reason, "Gerace" with great probability would mean "sacred place". More precisely, a sacred place dedicated to some "patron saint".

In this sense, history is a great support to the etymology. Gerace, called "Aghia Kuriaké" was born after the devastating Saracen raids, and the Byzantines, who then ruled the Calabrian  territory , took effect a reorganization of the new settlements for defensive purposes, thus putting them upwards. It was stressed in this regard that "[…] the written sources clearly indicate a new State intervention at various levels, that on the territory is realized with the founding of settlements with Greeks names  referred to the Saints, as “Hagia Severiné" and "Hagia Kuriaké" (...) Besides these places were walled, which solved the problem of insecurity and became a symbol of the[protecting]  presence of  the Byzantine Holy on the territory "(see"  Archeologia Medievale ", Clusf, 2005:  487). J.M. Martin writes that the Byzantines   activated in the eighth century a number of foundations of the city, which introduced the country's economic recovery after the raids.

The size of the new fortified villages are small and the place names, like "Hagia Kyriaki", Gerace, indicates the willingness of the Byzantines to Graecize the country. The new cities are located on some easily defensible hills, to an average altitude of 300-350 meters (See J.M. Martin, "Zones côtières littorales méditerréen dans le monde au Moyen Âge", Casa de Velasquez, 2001: 489). This established, the interpretation of "Hagia Kyriaki" (or "Aghios Kyriakés Kastro" [“fortified town of Santa Ciriaca”]) with "Santa Ciriaca" certainly has its basis, because the  place-name dedicated to this saint  has strong relations with the city  from which   the founders of Gerace escaped, or Locri, where, exactly, was revered "St. Ciriaco". E. Barillaro notes that "'Hagia Kyriaki' (Santa Domenica, Santa Ciriaca) recalls ‘San Ciriaco’, the  martyr of  Locri (See Emilio Barillaro,  “Calabria. Guida artistica e archeologica”, Pellegrini, 1972: 281).

We also observe that "Kyriaké" could not refer to Santa Ciriaca, but to the Madonna, as an expression of the highest will of the people, given the difficult times, to also have a "high" protection, that is Madonna. In fact, T. Dalfi, in his "Voyage to the East" (See T. Dalfi, "Voyage to the East", 1875: 583) observed that  some Eastern churches were dedicated to ‘Hagia Kyriaki’, that is, to our Blessed Lady." If we take account of this historical fact related to the founding of the city, it is therefore possible that the name "Gerace" has its roots in "Kyriaki" as "a place dedicated to Our Lady." If we bear in mind the importance that has always had a cult of the Virgin in the Cathedral of the city, this hypothesis is strengthened. However, in the "step" towards the modern name of the city, "Gerace", is much easier that it was  occurred   by "Ieràkion" rather than "Hagia Kyriaki”. "Ieràkion" is  the diminutive for "Ierax", which  does not just mean "hawk," but also "sacred", "inviolable". In this second sense, Gerace could simply mean "sacred and inviolable place."

Corrado Bozzoni, a great connoisseur of the history of Gerace, believes that the modern name derives precisely from "Ieràkion" rather than "Hagia Kyriaki": [...] The study of the name 'Santa Ciriaca' will have our attention because, with little knowledge of the subject,  fill to-day much has been said in relation to the etymology of Gerace. This etymology is connected, almost certainly in error, with '[Aghia] Kyriaki', rather than the more realistic term 'ieràkion'. An anagogical approach to the architecture of the cathedral will offer us unsuspected inductive tools and will help us choose more wisely "(See Corrado Bozzoni," The Cathedral of Gerace, "Cassa di Risparmio di Calabria and Lucania, 1986: 21). As for the modern term "Gerace", it appears for the first time with the arrival of the Normans in Calabria. According to Corrado Bozzoni, "[…] the name 'Gerace' appears in the history with the advent of the Normans .

So William of Apulia tells, in his poem 'The Escalation', about Robert Guiscard.  He, after the conquest of Curiati, Rossano Cosenza,  says that  'even the rich and industrious ‘Geratia’  (Gerace) surrended itself to him' […] "(See Corrado Bozzoni: 33, footnote 10).  Lastly, the same Bozzoni, about the relationship “Ieràkion-Geratia-Gerace, said that the inhabitants of the city always treated with great respect the "sacred name’  “Geratia- Ieràkion”, preferring to use other terms that recalled the ancient Locri. ‘Geratia-Ièrakos’, a name  which the inhabitants  put aside for use the name of the ancient glorious motherland Locri" (p.21). Thus the local Bishop called, for example, "Locrensis episcopus" ("Bishop of Locri"), "episcopus Locrensis Sanctae Ecclesiae seu Sanctae Ciriacae" (Bishop of   the Holy Church of Locri or Santa Ciriaca). In conclusion, according to  this authoritative opinion , the "step" towards the modern name would be: "Ieràkion" - "Geratia"- “Gerace", the “sacred place”, the “hawk. "