Palmi, Calabria

Palmi (Italian: [ˈpalmi]; Reggino: Parmi; Latin: Palmae) is a comune (municipality) of about 19,303 inhabitants in the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria.

It is seat of the district, which includes 33 municipalities in the plain of Gioia Tauro, with a population of approximately 170,000 inhabitants.

With the nearby beaches of Marina di Palmi and Lido di Palmi, overlooking the Violet coast, the city is a major seaside resort thanks to its landscape, which has led writers and poets to call it the "terrace on the Strait of Messina".

In addition to being the main administrative center, office and school of the Tyrrhenian coast of the province of Reggio Calabria, Palmi was also an important agricultural and commercial center and a bishopric of Roman Catholic Diocese of Oppido Mamertina-Palmi.

For centuries, the city was one of the most important cultural centers of Calabria in the literary, musical, historical and archaeological interest. Notable people from the area include, among others, the composer Francesco Cilea, and the writer Leonida Repaci. It also houses the museum complex of the House of Culture and the Archaeological park of Tauriani, on the ruins of the ancient city of Tauriana. In the latter lived in Saint Fantino, the oldest saint of Calabria and the crypt, which contained his remains, is currently the oldest catholic place of worship in the region.

In addition to Palmi are celebrated two holidays of national importance. The two events are the Varia di Palmi, inserted in 2013 in the UNESCO "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity", and the feast of Saint Roch with the "procession of barbed wire".