Reggio

Reggio (anc. Rhegium Julii), a seaport of South Italy, stands on the Strait of Messina, 9 miles SE. of the city of Messina in Sicily. It is the seat of an archbishop, and has a fine cathedral. Manufactures of silks, scented waters, gloves, stockings, and caps—the last three made from the byssus of the Pinna (q.v.)—the cultivation of fruits, wine, and olives, and fishing are carried on. Pop. 23,853. The ancient Rhegium was founded by Greeks in the 8th century. It was taken and destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse (387 B.C.), the Romans (270), Alaric (410 A.D.), Totila (549), the Saracens (918), and captured by Robert Guiscard (1060), Pedro of Aragon (1282), and the Garibaldians (1860). In 1783 it was ruined by an earthquake.—The province has an area of 1221 sq. m. and a pop. of 397,208.