Locri used to be called Gerace Marina: it was the shore of Gerace, the town up in the hills where the people had taken refuge centuries earlier to escape the Saracens and the malaria of the coast. Once the plain was drained and the railway arrived in 1871, the marina grew enough to take the town hall, the magistrates' court and the bank, and Gerace up there was furious: it took twenty years of committees and demonstrations before a royal decree of 1905 separated the two municipalities. The Greek name came later, by a decree of 1934.
That name comes from Locri Epizephyrii, the polis founded in the seventh century before Christ a few kilometres to the south. There the Locrian Zaleucus wrote what Strabo considered the first written laws of the Greeks: anyone wishing to propose a change to a law had to appear before the assembly with a noose round their neck, and if the proposal was rejected the noose was tightened. His son, caught in adultery, should by law have lost both eyes: Zaleucus had one taken from the boy and one from himself.
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📅 Every year, on 25 November; in August a feast for the Blessed Virgin Immaculate is also held
Locri celebrates Saint Catherine of Alexandria on 25 November, in the church dedicated to her. In August, a feast in honour of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate is also held, featuring many shows in the historic centre's streets.
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 Locri, but an easy day trip away.
