Rosarno is the ancient Medma, a colony founded by the people of Locri at the end of the sixth century before Christ: the Greek city faded in the second century of our era, and the present name appears for the first time in a Neapolitan document of 1037. The earthquake of the fifth of February 1783 razed it to the ground and killed 203 of its people, but the worst damage came afterwards: the shock lowered the valley of the Mesima, the water stood still, and the malaria of the new marshes killed more than the earthquake had. Reclamation began with the marquis Vito Nunziante and slowly turned the swamp into the plain of orange groves.
In the twentieth century Rosarno set a record worth as much as a monument: under mayor Giuseppe Lavorato it was the first municipality in Italy to join a mafia trial as a civil plaintiff and to be awarded damages, and among the first to hand back to the community the property confiscated from the 'ndrangheta.
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📅 Every year, on 24 June; August also holds the Sagra della Massaia and the Palio dei Rioni
Rosarno celebrates Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, in the church dedicated to him; April hosts the Sagra della zagara, while August brings the Sagra della Massaia, the National Amateur Theatre Festival and the Palio dei Rioni with its historical parade.
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 Rosarno, but an easy day trip away.
