Villa San Giovanni
| Villa San Giovanni | ||
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| Comune | ||
| Comune di Villa San Giovanni | ||
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 Villa San Giovanni
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| Coordinates: 38°13′N 15°38′E / 38.217°N 15.633°E | ||
| Country | Italy | |
| Region | Calabria | |
| Province / Metropolitan city | Reggio Calabria (RC) | |
| Frazioni | Acciarello, Cannitello, Case Alte, Ferrito, Pezzo, Piale, Porticello | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Rocco La Valle | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 12 km2 (5 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 15 m (49 ft) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 13,747 | |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (3,000/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Villesi | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 89018 | |
| Dialing code | 0965 | |
| Patron saint | St. John the Baptist | |
| Saint day | June 24 | |
| Website | Official website | |
Villa San Giovanni is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. In 2010 its population was 13,747. It is the main terminal of access to Sicily. On 25 April 2005 the President of the Republic had conferred upon it the title of "city".
It is located on the coast of Strait of Messina, facing the city of Messina across the narrow strait. The Punta Pezzo lies in the area and is the nearest point to Sicily. It contains a notable lighthouse. There are many neighborhoods : Acciarello, Cannitello, Pezzo and Piale.
On 28 December 1908 a powerful earthquake in the Strait of Messina killed 698 people in Villa San Giovanni, almost 10% of the then population.
The last decades of the sixteenth century saw the rise in the small coastal villages, as Cannitello and Pieces, inhabited mostly by sailors and fishermen. Further inland, at the current center of the Villa, there was a village called Blackwater. Later he also formed Piale and Acciarello. The coastal accelerated repopulation in the eighteenth century, the progressive decline of Fiumara di Muro, until the administrative reform implemented in 1806 by Giuseppe Bonaparte definitively abolished the feudal system and the Lordship of Fiumara disappeared. On 8 January 1676 he fought a naval battle between the Dutch and the French fleet in the waters of the Strait in front of Punta Pezzo, with a victorious outcome for the second. Probably the guns found in Pieces in 1902 were built in this battle. The plague of 1743 and the fire pit
In 1743, an unfortunate incident involving the small village of Fossa. In March of that year, a Genoese ship loaded with wheat from Patras had brought the plague to Messina (that was the last major outbreak of plague in Western Europe). The Health Council of the city of Reggio Calabria had ordered all boats not to approach the port of Messina and instituirono of guard duty on the coast to enforce the ordinance. The Health Council of Messina denied the epidemic, not to interrupt the trade with the continent; however, once heard the alarming news coming from the Sicilian town, the reggini not they trusted and established that four citizens, two noble and two civilians, did surveillance even up to Fossa, which then numbered no more than seventy people and Piece arrived with perhaps two hundred and Acciarello, village recently formed as a result of the exodus of the family of Messina Azzarello just because of the plague. Throughout the month of April, arrived in Naples news confused on the situation of Messina, so the government did not take the necessary steps, while the epidemic grew enormously in that city. In the situation of isolation in which it was Messina, many sailors and masters began to smuggle in food and basic necessities from the Calabrian side of the Strait and the resorts of Ganzirri and Torre Faro in Messina: this led to the arrival on the continent of infected products. Among these smugglers were the brothers Peter and Paul Lombardo di Fossa, originating Fiumara. It is said that on the night of June 10, the Sicilians, not having quite enough money to pay for them, gave them a coat and Paul Lombardo accepted it and put it on: the coat was infected and soon the two brothers died because of the disease, followed in the days following from their closest relatives. In any case, the epidemic also came to the Pit. Heard the news, the two mayors of Reggio Genovese and Giuseppe Antonio Melissari wanted to investigate the matter; so the governor Diego Ferri, from historical sources described as a man bad-tempered and authoritarian ruler, who was appointed recently, sent Fossa two of the best doctors reggini, and Francesco Saverio Fucetola Marrari. The plague was ascertained by two specialists, but did not stop the illegal smuggling with Sicily, in reality practiced by many boats Reggine: the plague began to spread enormously even on the shores of Calabria. The governor Ferri and the two mayors did then Fossa the scapegoat of the epidemic and ordered an expedition against the small town. According to reports from Luigi's Prayer, on the morning of June 23, departed from Reggio 3,200 heavily armed men, of whom 200 were Swiss mercenaries and the remaining citizens of Reggio, under the leadership of Diego Ferri. Initially, the residents of Blackwater tried to resist, but had to give. All the inhabitants, including old men, women and children, were forced to strip naked and to be washed with oil and vinegar. I reggini were made to deliver the clothes and all personal property and forced the inhabitants to march naked to Punta Pezzo. Then the armed men returned to Reggio and the next day with artillery burned the entire village, with houses, animals, numerous amounts of oil and wine, boats, trees, reeds; was set on fire, even the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in SS.ma piece, where it was said he had taken refuge a leper. I fossesi remained in miserable conditions at the beach Piece for several days, without receiving any help. The Ferri ordered him to Carlo Ruffo, Duke of Bagnara and Lord of Fiumara di Muro to provide him, as fossesi were still part of the feud fiumarese. But not even the Duke cared for them before the plague denied, and pretended to show themselves irritated by the act performed by reggini against its employees, then dumped these charges on the University of Fiumara, promising reimbursement of expenses. But it was only sent a few beans and a cow, certainly insufficient for all the inhabitants. Only the captain of a boat that was carrying onions from Tropea took pity on them and offered his poor load. Finally, between Blackwater and the neighboring towns about eighty people died from the plague. Reggini I thought they had thus preserved the city from the disease, but in early July, the disease also came to Reggio, where in a year of plague were recorded about 5,000 died of the plague, about another 500 died of exhaustion and hunger and another 500 sentenced to death by the governor Ferri. A Messina of 62,775 inhabitants were left just 11,436, that is to say that there were 51,319 deaths. Government aid were absorbed by Reggio and Messina and fossesi nothing came. Then the pope Benedict XIV sent 100,000 ducats for the countries affected by the plague, but also this time in Fossa did not touch anything in the money allocated. The birth of Villa San Giovanni
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