Riace

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Riace
coat of arms
Riace (Italy)
Riace
Country Italy
region Calabria
Metropolitan city Reggio Calabria  (RC)
Coordinates 38 ° 25 ′  N , 16 ° 29 ′  E Coordinates: 38 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  N , 16 ° 29 ′ 0 ″  E
surface 16 km²
Residents 2,142 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 134 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 89040
prefix 0964
ISTAT number 080064
Popular name Riacesi
Patron saint Cosmas and Damian
Website Comune di Riace
View of Riace
View of Riace

Riace is an Italian municipality with 2142 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria in Calabria .

The neighboring municipalities are Camini and Stignano .

structure

Riace consists of two settlement centers, the medieval Riace Superiore or Borgo and Riace Marina on the Ionian Sea .

Riace Borgo

Riace Borgo is the original older settlement situated higher in the hills. It has a medieval center with city walls and four preserved gates. Sights include the churches of S. Nicola di Bari, Santa Caterina and SS Cosma e Damiano. The old town is about seven kilometers away from the coastal road at 300 meters above sea level. M. and is largely car-free.

Riace Marina

Riace Marina is a seaside resort. A 50 meter wide sandy beach extends several dozen kilometers to the northeast and southwest. The bank is shallow and after about 300 meters reaches a water depth of seven meters, where the statues were found. Ten kilometers to the southwest is the well-developed marina "Porto della Gracie" with 450 berths. In summer with predominantly SW wind ( Libeccio ), suitable as a transit port on the journey from the Adriatic to the southern Mediterranean, in winter often also used as a winter berth for long-term sailors.

Culture

Bronze statues of Riace
Modern amphitheater

In 1972, off the coast of Riace Marina, the two bronze statues of Riace were found. They date from the 5th century BC. Chr. And are about two meters tall and 400 kilograms. Today they are exhibited in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria .

The modern amphitheater is used for meetings, lectures, parties and theater.

Population decline and immigration

Like many places in Calabria, Riace suffered from severe emigration and high unemployment.

City of the future

In 1998 a boat with Kurdish refugees landed in Riace. The population took in the people. That was the start of the "City of the Future". Domenico Lucano was a co-founder of the association Città Futura ('City of the Future'). The aim of the association is to settle refugees in Riace in order to offer them a perspective and to revive the village. In 2004 Domenico Lucano became mayor of Riace. In 2010 there were around 250 immigrants living in Riace. Four years later there were 800. They come from Tunisia , Senegal , Eritrea and Syria . In return for apartments and 250 euros per month, they worked the abandoned olive groves and vineyards. The financing was provided by Rome , which pays 35 euros per day for each refugee.

Awards

Domenico Lucano
"Open Borders" meeting
in the Riace amphitheater

Domenico Lucano achieved third place as " World Mayor " in the 2010 World Mayor Award (the winner was the Mayor of Mexico City). In 2016, he was named one of Fortune magazine's 50 Most Influential People. The German director Wim Wenders made the short documentary Il Volo about him. On February 12, 2017, the mayor was awarded the Dresden Peace Prize for his commitment .

The mayor is arrested

At the beginning of October 2018, the Guardia di Finanza announced that they had arrested Lucano and placed him under house arrest; He was accused of favoring illegal immigration by organizing fictitious marriages between migrants and local residents as well as financial irregularities. He is said to have awarded contracts for garbage collection to migrant cooperatives without tendering. In mid-October, the Interior Ministry announced that the migrants would soon be transferred to other refugee shelters in Italy. According to the Italian media, around 200 migrants live in Riace.

Return and process

House arrest against Domenico Lucano was lifted in October 2018, but at the same time he was forbidden to return to his village. He was removed from the office of mayor. More than 260 parishes have joined together in a network, some want to make Lucano an honorary citizen. 15,000 people have found work in the accommodation of migrants in southern Italy. Around 100 of the original 800 migrants still live in Riace. For the European elections, the Italian Constitutional Court allowed the ex-mayor to return to his community temporarily. The trial against him was opened in June 2019. The charge is: favoring illegal immigration and non-compliant procurement of municipal services. Specifically, he is said to have helped a migrant to a fictitious marriage in order to save her from deportation, and he is said to have awarded the contract for garbage disposal in the community to a social cooperative instead of publicly tendering the contract.

Festivals

The patron saint of Cosmas and Damian is celebrated with a procession from September 25th to 27th. It is also visited by many Roma .

traffic

Riace can be reached from Reggio di Calabria airport by train, bus or car, about 140 kilometers away. The state road 106 ( E 90 ) and the Taranto – Reggio di Calabria railway line run along the coast through Riace Marina .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ Website of the marina "Porto della Grazie"
  3. ^ Adriana Maciel: Domenico Lucano, Mayor of Riace, Italy. In: citymayors.com. June 11, 2010, accessed December 25, 2018 .
  4. ^ Hans-Jürgen Schlamp: Welcome culture in Italy: Benvenuti, dear refugees! In: Spiegel Online , April 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ World Mayor 2010 results
  6. ^ Domenico Lucano - Dresden Prize. In: dresdner-friedenspreis.de. Retrieved February 12, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Francesco M. Bassano: News from the donkey. Interior Minister Salvini takes action against the migrants in the model village of Riace. The mayor is in custody. In: Friday , October 18, 2018, p. 27.
  8. ↑ Salvini has refugees evacuated from the model village. In: welt.de . October 14, 2018, accessed on December 25, 2018. See also: "Riace in the sights of the Lega: An integration model is being processed." Broadcast by Deutschlandfunk in the series "Das Feature", June 11, 2019, 7:15 pm.
  9. ↑ Refugee- friendly Mayor of Riace arrested. In: zeit.de , October 2, 2018.
  10. ↑ Italy's Interior Minister Salvini banishes refugees from Riace. In: spiegel.de , October 14, 2018.
  11. ↑ ARD: Riace - a symbol without a mayor (October 20, 2018)
  12. ↑ ARD: The Riace model is in ruins (June 11, 2019)

Web links

Commons : Riace  - collection of images, videos and audio files