Tropea

A royal city, thriving and strategic port in the Tyrrhenian Sea

The Roman presence in the area has been documented since the 3rd century BC. C., but it was not till late antiquity (between the 5th and 6th centuries) that the full aggregation of the population that inhabited the rural territory of Tropea took place, favoured by the unifying presence of the port and above all of the bishop. 

The hinterland was also crossed by the important Capua-Regium consular road which, winding from the Appia around Capua, reached Reggio.

The local ancient tradition has often associated the origin of the city with Hercules, who founded Portercole, but there is no lack of alternative connections with the exploits of characters drawn from the history of Rome, such as Scipio Africanus, Sextus Pompeius and Octavian, who are supposed to have, in various circumstances, raised trophies for their victories, determining and changing the name of Tropea. 

The origin of the name Tropea has recently been proposed to be associated with the presence and spread of the cult, in the region of ancient Hipponion, of Zeus Tropaîos, i.e. the raiser of Tropeîa (trophies) for his victory against the Titans.

An important strategic centre for trade and for the defence of the Kingdom, between the 15th and 16th centuries Tropea was, except for a few brief periods, always kept under the direct control of the Crown.

During the sixteenth century there was a steady increase in the population, and the city, with its surroundings coinciding with the narrow coastal strip between Capo Vaticano and Briatico, boasted a population comparable, if not in some cases superior, to cities such as Cosenza, Catanzaro or Reggio Calabria.

Favoured by the state-owned status of the city, and by the absence of an oppressive feudal power, the city elites proved to be particularly active, both from a political, military and economic point of view, as well as artistically and culturally. 

Numerous Tropean families were protagonists, often in associated form, of significant artistic and architectural commissions, which can still be admired in the city's buildings today.