Gioiosa Ionica

Comune in Calabria, Italy

Gioiosa Ionica

Comune

Location of Gioiosa Ionica

Gioiosa Ionica

Location of Gioiosa Ionica in Italy

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Gioiosa Ionica

Gioiosa Ionica (Calabria)

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Coordinates: 38°20′N 16°18′E﻿ / ﻿38.333°N 16.300°E﻿ / 38.333; 16.300
Country| Italy
Region| Calabria
Metropolitan city| Reggio Calabria (RC)
Area

[1]

• Total

| 35 km2 (14 sq mi)
Population

(2018-01-01)[2]

• Total

| 7,059
• Density| 200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zone| UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC+2 (CEST)
Patron saint| St. Roch
Website| Official website

Gioiosa Ionica (Calabrian: 'A Gejusa) is a town and comune in Italy in the province of Reggio Calabria, region of Calabria. It lies near the east coast of Calabria and covers an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi).

The remains of a theatre belonging to the Roman period were discovered in 1883 at Marina di Gioiosa Ionica.

## Archaeological sites

[edit]

### Villa Naniglio

[edit]

Villa Naniglio

Outside the historic centre of the town is the Roman Villa of Naniglio,[3][4] located on a hill sloping towards the coast in a panoramic position overlooking the Torbido river valley and a few kilometers from the sea, about 18km north of the archaeological site of ancient Locri.

It was an imposing and highly prestigious villa built towards the end of the 1st century BC and reached its maximum splendour around the 3rd century AD. It was expanded until the 4th-5th century AD before being hit by a natural event (probably a flood) which caused its complete abandonment. It is conceivable that use continued in some rooms from finds of ceramic material dating to the 6th and 9th centuries.[5]

The plan is an elongated main body, with two smaller wings attached at the ends.[6] The archaeological excavations between 1981 and 1986 by Alfonso de Franciscis brought to light the residential sector of 3 main rooms with polychrome mosaic floors with geometric motifs and painted wall plaster.[7] Excavations in 2010 brought to light a large octagonal room at the end of the residential wing and several water channels, one of which probably connected to the cistern.[8] The mosaic in room A is a rosette in black and white but with beautiful coloured tesserae in the centre where brightly coloured glass paste tiles were used, rare for a floor mosaic, more usual for those on walls. Glass tiles were expensive and were used to make jewellery or replace missing precious stones in jewellery. The mosaic has two patterns of decoration to separate the space: it was probably a cubiculum where the rectangular area was occupied by a bed and the rose, often used in the 1st century AD, designated a free space.[9]

Of great interest due to its exceptional state of preservation is the large underground cistern of the 2nd-3rd centuries lying under the modern road, with three aisles supported by eight square pillars arranged in two rows, covered by cross vaults with a central skylight. The main access was by a spectacular spiral staircase of 24 steps around a circular pillar which protrudes from the roof and on top of which is a dome. Built in a later phase on one of the short sides of the cistern are two small rooms covered by barrel vaults. Of particular interest, the eastern one has a votive shrine and an altar with traces of decorations which indicate this was a nymphaeum.

To the south of the cistern is a bath complex not yet excavated.

* Cistern villa Naniglio

* cistern

* mosaic - Room A

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
2. ^ All demographics and other statistics from the Italian statistical institute (Istat)
3. ^ Gioiosa Ionica http://www.locride.altervista.org/gioiosa_jonica.htm
4. ^ Alfonso De Franciscis, La villa romana del Naniglio di Gioiosa Jonica - Ed. Bibliopolis - Napoli - 1988
5. ^ "Locri Epizefiri, Il Sito Archeologico - Le Villae Romane". www.locriantica.it. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
6. ^ "NANIGLIO DI GIOIOSA IONICA (Reggio Calabria)". romanoimpero.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
7. ^ R. Agostino, E. Grillo - I Pavimenti musivi del complesso del Naniglio di Gioiosa Jonica, in Atti del XVIII Colloquio AISCOM - Cremona, 14-17 marzo 2012 - Edizioni Scripta Manent - Tivoli - 2013
8. ^ Gioiosa Ionica Naniglio - Archeologia, comuni di qualità, su archeocomunidiqualita.it
9. ^ NANIGLIO DI GIOIOSA IONICA (Reggio Calabria) https://www.romanoimpero.com/2020/03/naniglio-di-gioiosa-ionica-reggio.html

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Calabria * Comuni of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria

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* Delianuova
* Feroleto della Chiesa
* Ferruzzano
* Fiumara
* Galatro
* Gerace
* Giffone
* Gioia Tauro
* Gioiosa Ionica
* Grotteria
* Laganadi
* Laureana di Borrello
* Locri
* Mammola
* Marina di Gioiosa Ionica
* Maropati
* Martone
* Melicuccà
* Melicucco
* Melito di Porto Salvo
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* Motta San Giovanni
* Oppido Mamertina
* Palizzi
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* Platì
* Polistena
* Portigliola
* Reggio Calabria
* Riace
* Rizziconi
* Roccaforte del Greco
* Roccella Ionica
* Roghudi
* Rosarno
* Samo
* San Ferdinando
* San Giorgio Morgeto
* San Giovanni di Gerace
* San Lorenzo
* San Luca
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* San Procopio
* San Roberto
* Sant'Agata del Bianco
* Sant'Alessio in Aspromonte
* Sant'Eufemia d'Aspromonte
* Sant'Ilario dello Ionio
* Santa Cristina d'Aspromonte
* Santo Stefano in Aspromonte
* Scido
* Scilla
* Seminara
* Serrata
* Siderno
* Sinopoli
* Staiti
* Stignano
* Stilo
* Taurianova
* Terranova Sappo Minulio
* Varapodio
* Villa San Giovanni

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