Different historians and archaeologists have given with their writings, news ranging from the Iron Age to the modern one. To the age of the iron belong the necropoli in contrada Rota and Pirarelli, with traces of habitation with the shape of huts. In the period of Greek domination in Calabria, there was a large city named Medma, whose location is disputed between Rosarno and Nicotera.
In the sixth century BC began its decline, and Medma suffered the loss of independence, wealth, and its domains. The transition from one name to another will have occurred between the I and III century, but there is no precise historical information about it, which can explain the end of Medma and the beginning of Nicotera. Around 1500, the agro of Nicotera Marina included several districts called “tavolati”, whose name had its historical origin:
• contrada Tarzanà, in the east, deriving from the Roman “Tarzanatus”, which was the port.
• contrada Maddamma Diana, derived from a temple dating back to the era of Magna Graecia, dedicated to the goddess Diana.
• contrada S. Pietro, that derives perhaps, from a basilica dedicated to S. Pietro, built on Greek ruins, in the vulgar era.
• contrada S. Faustina, also derived from an area rich in archaeological finds.
After the earthquake of 1783, the area of Nicotera Marina was reduced to a swampy place. It was on this occasion that the Marquis Vito Nunziante, in 1818, had 1/10 of the area drained. In that period Marina of Nicotera was built and became part of the municipality of Nicotera with a Royal Decree of 18 May 1835.
The Roman quarry
In Contrada Agnone, in the north, near the railway station, there is a Roman quarry (fodina) from the II-III centuries AD. The site is characterised by short terraces opened in ancient times on the hillside; the ground is steep due to collapses and landslides over the centuries. Granite artefacts have been found on the site, which were used for construction purposes; marble from the quarry was found in Trajan's Forum in Rome and in the Roman theatres of Teano and Caserta. The quarry overlooks the wide bay of the Roman port that existed in ancient times.
The port
Archaeological studies of the port tell us that it was built in the IV century BC by colonists from Medma in the bay of Nicotera Marina.
Twenty-six centuries ago, the sea in the harbour went half a kilometre further inland (beyond the present church of the Immaculate Conception), bordering on the rocky coastline of Agnone, from which the harbour builders could extract stone to be transported on boats to the construction sites.
The port lasted efficiently for about two thousand years, but the earthquakes of 1509, 1638, 1659 and 1687 caused the main pier to collapse. Before the year one thousand, the port was equipped with a maritime arsenal, called Tarsanà. Federico II had this Tarsanà restored, where warships or galleys up to fifty metres long were built; they were used in the arsenal of Frederick II himself and by Charles of Anjou, who chose Nicotera Marina as his naval base. The arsenal was in the place, still called Tarsanà, where there are remains of a building with splayed single-lancet windows.
In the sixth century BC began its decline, and Medma suffered the loss of independence, wealth, and its domains. The transition from one name to another will have occurred between the I and III century, but there is no precise historical information about it, which can explain the end of Medma and the beginning of Nicotera. Around 1500, the agro of Nicotera Marina included several districts called “tavolati”, whose name had its historical origin:
• contrada Tarzanà, in the east, deriving from the Roman “Tarzanatus”, which was the port.
• contrada Maddamma Diana, derived from a temple dating back to the era of Magna Graecia, dedicated to the goddess Diana.
• contrada S. Pietro, that derives perhaps, from a basilica dedicated to S. Pietro, built on Greek ruins, in the vulgar era.
• contrada S. Faustina, also derived from an area rich in archaeological finds.
After the earthquake of 1783, the area of Nicotera Marina was reduced to a swampy place. It was on this occasion that the Marquis Vito Nunziante, in 1818, had 1/10 of the area drained. In that period Marina of Nicotera was built and became part of the municipality of Nicotera with a Royal Decree of 18 May 1835.
The Roman quarry
In Contrada Agnone, in the north, near the railway station, there is a Roman quarry (fodina) from the II-III centuries AD. The site is characterised by short terraces opened in ancient times on the hillside; the ground is steep due to collapses and landslides over the centuries. Granite artefacts have been found on the site, which were used for construction purposes; marble from the quarry was found in Trajan's Forum in Rome and in the Roman theatres of Teano and Caserta. The quarry overlooks the wide bay of the Roman port that existed in ancient times.
The port
Archaeological studies of the port tell us that it was built in the IV century BC by colonists from Medma in the bay of Nicotera Marina.
Twenty-six centuries ago, the sea in the harbour went half a kilometre further inland (beyond the present church of the Immaculate Conception), bordering on the rocky coastline of Agnone, from which the harbour builders could extract stone to be transported on boats to the construction sites.
The port lasted efficiently for about two thousand years, but the earthquakes of 1509, 1638, 1659 and 1687 caused the main pier to collapse. Before the year one thousand, the port was equipped with a maritime arsenal, called Tarsanà. Federico II had this Tarsanà restored, where warships or galleys up to fifty metres long were built; they were used in the arsenal of Frederick II himself and by Charles of Anjou, who chose Nicotera Marina as his naval base. The arsenal was in the place, still called Tarsanà, where there are remains of a building with splayed single-lancet windows.