Districts

Arretu ‘a chjesi

It is the district behind the Church devoted to St. Nicola Bishop

Arretu ‘a pignara – Arretu ‘u Timberi

It is behind the district named Timberi. It has a secondary name related to the fact that till a few decades ago there was a big example of domestic pine tree (‘a pignara)

‘A via ‘e Vrisi

It is the street line, still composed by ample excerpts of the ancient pavement in local stone, that reaches the source Vrisi from the old town

Capucannala 

The current Campanella Street, once St. Joseph Street. According to the popular story, this name would derive from the fact that rainwaters coming from many upper districts met, and still meet, in this street

Cavarcatura

Called in this way for the steps of a staircase (the residence has been demolished) from which farmers mount on the beasts of burden

Chjanu

It is a district, with a small flat area, in the bottom part of the town

Chjazza

It is the central square of the town; the heart of the historical center. For a long time place of socialization in all its religious, politics and cultural components… The buildings that define this place, the briquettes made of  local stone that pave it, the façade of the Matrix Church and  ‘a menzalora that furnishes it,  create a warm urban intimacy

Cona

As in other towns, also Gasperina has the district callaed Cona, consequential term from the existence of a votive icon. In the territory of Gasperina there are lots of votive icons, either in the town or in the ancient rural roads. As small and simple architectural structures, they are a strong testimony of the popular religiousness. It is necessary to make a distinction between those drawn in the walls, especially widespread in the historical center of the town, and those made of a single indipendent structure that we find especially in the countries. Icons are not an invention of the Christianity, but they originate from the pagan world. The devotional gesture of the icon was tied to a need of protection and constant relationship with the divinity. Madonnas and saints were companions of trip: people needed to meet them on the road. In the countries, very often, icons are located in a crossroads, as they were used, long time ago, for protecting the territory from the evil; farmers that passed in this place asked protection for theirs and their family health, but also for the prosperity of their fields (cfr. Gregorio Gallello in L’Araldo di Gasperina, anno VI, n. 21, December 2016)

Crici

District in the underlying part of the central square of the town. Crici, by itself, it is a nickname of a family that lived in this place and that has given the name to the whole district

Crucia d’a via

Crossroads in the low part of the town where, on the external wall of a construction, there was a big wooden cross that represented one of the stations of the Street Crucis

Frìχχina

First stretch of the current Corso Mazzini, called also ‘a Vianova

Hilanda

Old people’s stories said that once, in this line of the current Via Campanella there was the presence of a small workshop dedicated to the spinning of the textile fibers. The micro-toponym Hilanda has remained, indeed

Gaḍuna

It means ravine (cfr. Dictionary of the dialects of Southern Calabria by Joseph Antonio Martin p. 488; and New Dialect Dictionary of Calabria by Gerhard Rohlfs, p. 290). It is the place where in the past and still today meet the meteoric waters coming from the disticts Capucannala, Hilanda, Pateḍà e Peṭṛa ‘e Panghi

Goraci

This district takes the name from the last construction on the right side of the road to Montauro. Construction in use once as a bus garage for the buses that made line service to Catanzaro, Soverato and the railway station of Montauro Scalo

Xχioppu

District situated in the low part of the town turned south-west. The term derives from the Greek σκοπέω (scopèo) which means: “I look around, I observe, I watch over.” It was the place of the sentinel, of the lookout that in the antiquity, until after the middle age, every town had to guard its entrance. (cfr. don Innocenzo Lombardo e Mario Voci, “Antichi toponimi di rioni (rughe)”, in L’Araldo di Gasperina, anno V, n. 14, November 2014)

Jiricuccu

A district situated in the low part of the town turned south-west. The toponym Jiricuccu is a composed term derived from the Greek words ιερέυς (ierèus) that means “sacred” and κύκλος (chiùclos) that means “fences”. The central part of the district is located in a such a way to produce a sort of area that remainds to an enclosure. In the antiquity, in the inhabited centers, there could be a sacred enclosure, a place consecrated to the divinity and used for the sacrifices (cfr. don Innocenzo Lombardo e Mario Voci, “Antichi toponimi di rioni (rughe)”, in L’Araldo di Gasperina, anno V, n. 13, July 2014)

Continue on the next page >