Paola, Italy

Paola
Comune
Città di Paola
Panoramic view
Paola Location of Paola in Italy
Coordinates: 39°22′N 16°2′E / 39.367°N 16.033°E / 39.367; 16.033Coordinates: 39°22′N 16°2′E / 39.367°N 16.033°E / 39.367; 16.033
Country	Italy
Region	Calabria
Province / Metropolitan city	Cosenza (CS)
Government
• Mayor	Basilio Ferrari (PdL)
Area
• Total	42 km2 (16 sq mi)
Elevation	94 m (308 ft)
Population (December 31, 2014)    7,805 men and 8,409 women
• Total	16,914
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Paolani
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	87027
Dialing code	0982
Patron saint	St. Francis of Paola
Saint day	April 2 and May 4
Website	Official website

Paola is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

Paola is on the eastern shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Nearby towns include Fuscaldo to the north, San Lucido to the south, and (beyond a ridge) Montalto Uffugo to the east and San Benedetto Ullano to the northeast.

In July 1555, the Beylerbey of the Mediterranean, Turgut Reis, captured the city.

In August 1943, the middle of World War II, while almost all the citizens of the city were hiding from the air raids by Allied bombers inside the Monastery of St. Francis of Paola, an 80 kg (176 lb) iron-core bomb fell right in the middle of the agglomeration, but did not detonate, a fact widely reported as a miracle. The reason behind the bombing was the presence of Carlo Scorza, secretary of the National Fascist Party, second only to Mussolini.

Saint Francis Sanctuary, Del'Annunziata church dome, S. S. Rosario church, Ipogeo di Sotterra church. Feast of Saint Francis, May 1–4.

Paola is the home of St. Francis of Paola and houses a world-famous Catholic sanctuary dedicated to the saint.

Paola railway station, opened in 1895, forms part of the Battipaglia–Reggio di Calabria railway, and is also a terminus of a secondary line, the Paola–Cosenza railway.

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Wikipedia