The surname Gravina was added to the town on the twelfth of March 1864 by mayor Federico Balsano, for the second centenary of the birth of Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, who was from here: a jurist and man of letters, he was one of the founders of the Academy of Arcadia. The name of the town was Rogiano, with one g. The second g came later, but nobody knows when or by whose hand: a consonant that turned up on its own.
Before the earthquake of the Crati valley on the twelfth of November 1963 there was also the arch of the prison, a great arch between two towers that still appears on the municipal banner: it was pulled down in 1964 by order of the prefect, because it was cracked and unsafe. Of the Angevin walls, built between the thirteenth and the fourteenth century, the elliptical tower still stands, now the clock tower. In the Larderia district, meanwhile, are the remains of a Roman villa with its baths and mosaic floors.
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📅 Every year, from 1 to 3 December, in memory of the earthquake days
Roggiano Gravina celebrates Saint Francis of Paola from 1 to 3 December. The saint's wooden statue is kept in the old Church of Sant'Antonio; on these days the community recalls the terrible days of an earthquake and renews its devotion to its protector, with religious and civic rites.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Roggiano Gravina, but an easy day trip away.
