Comune in Calabria, Italy
San Luca is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in Italy, located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Catanzaro and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Reggio Calabria. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the Aspromonte mountains and in the valley of the Bonamico river. The village has long been known as a stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria, with an ongoing clan based power struggle dubbed the San Luca feud.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) from San Luca. It has long been the 'Ndrangheta's meeting place.
History
San Luca was founded on October 18, 1592, by Prince Sigismund Loffredo and named after Saint Luke the Evangelist, who became the patron saint of the town. It was populated by refugees from the old town of Potamia, which was destroyed by landslides.[3] San Luca became a comune in 1811, and was hit by floods and landslides in 1951, 1953, and December 1972.[4]
Journalist and author Corrado Alvaro grew up in San Luca in the early 1900s, a time when illiteracy was near 100 percent and the town had no drinking water. The women went to fetch water with the casks on their heads at a well nearby. The town was fairly isolated; there was no road to the coast and the only way was on foot. Many inhabitants joined the Italian diaspora to escape the extreme poverty.[5]
Stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta
San Luca is considered to be the stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. According to a former 'ndranghetista, "almost all the male inhabitants belong to the 'Ndrangheta, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi has long been the meeting place of the affiliates, known as the Crimine."[6] At least since the 1950s, the chiefs of the 'Ndrangheta locali have met regularly near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi during the September Feast. In 1969 the police raided a meeting near the sanctuary and captured more than 70 'ndranghetisti, while others managed to escape.[7]
The historical preeminence of the San Luca family is such that every new group or locale must obtain its authorization to operate and every group belonging to the 'Ndrangheta "has to deposit a small percentage of illicit proceeds to the principale of San Luca in recognition of the latter’s primordial supremacy."[8] San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is "the cradle of [the 'Ndrangheta] and its epicentre".[9]
In 1991, the San Luca feud, a war between the Pelle-Vottari-Romeo and Strangio-Nirta clans began and resulted in several deaths. It carried into Germany in August 2007 when six men were shot to death in front of an Italian restaurant in Duisburg.[10][11]
In May 2023, the Italian police made numerous arrests in San Luca as part of an international razzia against the 'Ndrangheta.[12]
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