Tropea in Vibo Valentia Province

Tropea is the village of my grandmother's mother's family, the Scrugli family. It is located in the gulf of St. Euphemia. It is surrounded by the towns of Drapia, Spilinga, Ricardi and Capo Vaticano. It is a beautiful seaside villiage. It has traces of inhabitation that dates back as far as prehistoric times. It's rich culture, ancient history and beautiful white sand beaches helps make Tropea a popular tourist destination. Along with traditional Italian Festas like the Festa of San Giuseppe, Tropea is also host to an international film festival and an annual Blues Music Festival.

History of Tropea

The ancient history of Tropea can be seen by walking through the old historical center of town. Despite the numerous earthquakes that have struck the town over the centuries, the condition of the older buildings appears to have withstood them quite well.

People have explored the archeology of Tropea for hundreds of years. Evidence of colonization of Tropea dates back to the Paleolithic period. Early ancient Greek settlements and evidence of the great Roman Empire has also been uncovered in Tropea. In fact, there is evidence of a thriving community for every time period in history. Once under the Archdiocese of Locri, another Ancient Greek settlement, I beleive there is a connection between these 2 towns. I will be exporing this with another person soon. For information on Locri, go to her website on Locri here. In the 1800's Tropea merged with the Diocese of Nicotera instead of Locri.

Tropea has also been under the control of the Byzantines whose influence on the town can still be seen today. During the reign Napoleon Tropea was an important seaport.

Famous Tropeans

Pasquale Galluppi was a famous Italian philosopher who was born in Tropea in 1770. His father was Baron Vincenzo Galluppi and his mother was the nobile Lady Lucrezia Galluppi. He married Barbara D'Aquino in Tropea and they had 14 children together.

During his lifetime he wrote several books on his philosophical theories. His philosophy on how the human mind works was far ahead of his time. Since I do not know much about his theories, if you are interested in his theories you may read more on this Wikipedia article. In 1836 he became a professor at the University of Napoli and died in Napoli in 1846.

Napoleone Scrugli was the son of Baron Ignazio Scrugli and Domenica Bagnato. Napoleone was named after Napoleone Buonaparte because of his father's admiration for the famous ruler. Napoleone was a Vice Admiral in the Italian Royal Navy. His naval successes for the Kingdom Of Napoli earned him the respect of the people and the title of Count bestowed upon him by the King of Napoli. Napoleone was a supporter of the unification of Italy and became of respected member of the first Senate of the unified Italy.

Foods Of Tropea

Since Tropea is a seaside village, it is not surprising that seafood is a popular food in Tropea. Besides the seafood, Tropea is known for several other types of food.

Cipolla Rossa The most famous of foods from Tropea involved the Cipolla Rossa or, in English, red onions. The onions grown in the area surrounding Tropea have a rare sweetness in both taste and aroma. They are uniquely sweet and juicy. It is so unique, it can actually be made into a marmelade because of it's unique properties. I have never tasted these onions or the marmelade made from them but I would love to. If anyone knows where they can be purchased, I would love to try them. These onions are not just famous locally, but throughout Europe. The onions pictured here were photographed in Tropea by David Ayoub.

Pignolata is a sweet treat that I remember fondly from my childhood. Our whole family made this together as a sort of family project. Pignolata is small balls of deep fried dough assorted in a doughnut shaped configuration and covered in boiling hot honey. A very tasty treat!

Immigration From Tropea

Tropea did not seem to be as hard hit by the mass emmigration of the late 1800's and early 1900's as other towns I have researched. The number of ship records I have found leaving Tropea is far less than other towns. If you wish to view a spreadsheet in Excel format which is linked to the Ellis Island site you may view it here.

Tropea Records

During the reign of Napoleon, Italy was ordered to keep very specific records to document birth, marriage and death. The Stato Civile records (state civil) are still in use today. These records begin around 1809 (later in some areas). I am working on uploading the actual images of the state civil records from Tropea. You can view them on my other website The Catanzaro Exchange. The records currently up on this site are not extracted, however, the actual images of the records can be viewed there. The records are organized by type of record and year.

Churches Of Tropea

Pictured is the most famous and picturesque church in Tropea, Madonna della Isola (or Santa Maria della Isola). Although this beautiful church had medieval origins, it has been rebuilt several times after the ravages of time and many earthquakes damaged it. It appears to float on it's own island and its backdrop of the sea surrounding it makes for an astoundingly beautiful view. It's huge ancient structure combined with the rocky island it sits on, makes it one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen. The Church of Santa Caterina was the church of my own family.

Below is a list of churches in Tropea.

• Santa Maria della Isola
• Chiesa di Santa Caterina
• Chiesa dell'Annunziata
• Chiesa del Gesu
• Chiesa del Santa Rosario
• Chiesa di San Michele (delle anime del Purgatorio)
• Chiesa di San Giuseppe
• Chiesa di San Francesco
• Franciscan Convent

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