Tortora

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Tortora
No coat of arms available.
Tortora (Italy)
Tortora
Country Italy
region Calabria
province Cosenza  (CS)
Coordinates 39 ° 57 '  N , 15 ° 48'  E Coordinates: 39 ° 56 '31 "  N , 15 ° 48' 17"  E
height 312  m slm
surface 57.88 km²
Residents 6,113 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 106 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 87020
prefix 0985; 0973 nelle frazioni montane
ISTAT number 078149
Popular name Tortoresi (in the dialect Turturisi)
Patron saint San Biagio Santo Patrono - Sant'Antonio da Padova Santo Protettore
Website Tortora
Tortora, town center

Tortora is an Italian commune in the province of Cosenza in Calabria with 6113 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

Location and dates

Tortora is about 150 km north of Cosenza on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea . The neighboring communities are Aieta , Laino Borgo , Lauria ( PZ ), Maratea ( PZ ), Praia a Mare and Trecchina ( PZ ).

Attractions

The church of the Purgatorio with a Norman portal with relief work is in the village. The church of S. Francesco d'Assisi dates from the 16th and 17th centuries. There are also interesting palazzi such as the Palazzo Lomonaco with courtyard and towers.

particularities

From Tortora to Belvedere Marittimo there is an almost 40 kilometer long coastal strip on which the diamante lemon ( Citrus medica var. Vulgaris or Citrus medica cv. Diamante ; Italian cedro di diamante , Hebrew) extends אתרוג קלבריה or גינובה), which bears its name after the Calabrian town of Diamante . It is the only region of the world where this variety of citron grows. As so-called etrogs, citric lemons play a ritual role in Judaism at the Feast of Tabernacles . The etrog belongs to the festive bouquet prescribed in Leviticus 23:40, which is formed from a palm branch ( lulav ), myrtle branch (Hadassim), brook willow (Arawot) and apple of paradise (etrog).

The different groups within Judaism use different varieties of the citron as an etrog, the garden historian Attlee speaks of at least 12 clearly distinguishable varieties. The determination is made by the respective Posek . The Lubavitch Jews , a Hasidic group within Orthodox Judaism , use only the Diamante lemon as an etrog on the instructions of their Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson and are therefore dependent on the lemon that grows in the region between Tortors and Belvedere Marittimo. The trees are harvested twice a year. The harvest time, which takes place around August, is used almost exclusively for the festival of tabernacles. During this time there are numerous representatives of this faith in northern Calabria who monitor that the fruits come from plantations that meet the requirements and buy suitable fruits for the Lubowitscher communities that are today all over the world. Only a very small part of the harvest meets the high demands on Etrog . The fruits used for the Feast of Tabernacles must not show any traces of insect damage and must be uniform in color. Perfect fruits that meet the requirements are traded for prices between € 25 and € 250.

The use of this variety is entirely conclusive: the Jewish migrants who settled in Italy, Sicily, Greece and Spain after the conquest of Jerusalem in AD 70, imported the lemon that they had previously grown in the Holy Land . It is generally the first citrus plant to be grown on the European continent.

literature

  • Helena Attlee: The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit. Penguin Books, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-14-196786-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ a b Helena Attlee: The Land Where Lemons Grow . P. 177.
  3. ↑ Helena Attlee: The Land Where Lemons Grow . P. 197.