Pentedattilo


Pentedattilo is a ghost town in Calabria, southern Italy, administratively a frazione of Melito di Porto Salvo. Until 1811, before the unification of Italy, it was a separate commune. It is situated at 250 m above the sea level, on the Monte Calvario, a mountain whose shapes once resembled that of five fingers. Pentedattilo is another ex-Greek speaking village in the isolated Calabrian region. Ιt lost its Greek language during the late 19th century.

History

The town was founded as a colony of the Greek city of Chalcis, in 640 BC. A flourishing commercial town during the Greater Greece and Roman eras, it declined during the Byzantine domination, when it was sacked by the Saracens and by others.
In the 12th century it was conquered by the Normans, and, together with Capo D'Armi, Condofuri and Montebello Ionico, it became part of a baronial fief under the Abenavoli family. These were succeeded by the Francoperta, from Reggio Calabria, and then by the Alberti, the Clement and the Ramirez.
The town was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1783, which caused the migration of much of the population to the nearby Melito Porto Salvo. The town remained totally uninhabited from the mid-1960 to the 1980s, when it was partially restored and repopulated by volunteers from across Europe.