Province of Catanzaro

The province of Catanzaro (provincia di Catanzaro; Catanzarese: pruvincia e Catanzaru) is a province of the Calabria region of Italy. The city Catanzaro is both capital of the province and capital of the region of Calabria. The province contains a total of 80 municipalities (comuni). Its provincial president is Sergio Abramo. It contains the Isthmus of Catanzaro between Sant'Eufemia and the Gulf of Squillace. It borders the provinces of Crotone (formed from it in 1996), Cosenza, Reggio Calabria, and Vibo Valentia, and it also borders the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas to the east and west, respectively. After the last ice age, stone age hunter-gatherers lived in this area. By about 3,500 BC they had turned to farming and started settling in villages. In the ninth and eighth centuries BC, Greeks began colonising the coastal regions of Calabria, calling the area Magna Graecia. They brought with them their Hellenic civilization and the olives, figs and vines that are cultivated in the province today. By the third century BC, the Greeks were conquered by tribes from northern Italy, including a branch of the Samnites called the Bruttii. They established their sovereignty over present day Calabria and founded new cities, including their own capital "Consentia", now known as Cosenza. After their victory in the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), the Romans occupied Calabria, and the region remained under their control until the fifth century AD. After the Visigoths overthrew the Romans, there followed an unsettled period for Calabria. However, by the middle of the sixth century, the Byzantine Empire was in control of southern Italy. The city of Catanzaro was founded by the Byzantines during the tenth century. The city, atop a hill above the Gulf of Squilis, was named Katanrzarion or Catasarion as these derive from the Greek words for "terrace" and "under"; terrace farming took place in the province. The city was fortified in 1055 and a castle was constructed; this allowed it to resist French invasion attempts lasting four months in 1528.