Filadelfia

Italy

Filadelfia is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Located approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Catanzaro and 20 kilometres northeast of Vibo Valentia, it sits in the Tyrrhenian coastal plains of Calabria.

The city was founded in 1783 by inhabitants of the nearby town of Castelmonardo, whose original settlement was destroyed by an earthquake. The survivors relocated to new land about 6 kilometres away and established Filadelfia, naming it after Philadelphia in the United States. This relatively recent founding distinguishes it from many older Calabrian settlements with medieval origins.

As of 2013, Filadelfia had a population of approximately 5,500 residents and covers an area of 30 square kilometres. The city's 18th-century origins and planned layout reflect its reconstruction purpose following the natural disaster that displaced its founders.

Sources

  1. Filadelfia, Calabria