Belcastro

Belcastro is a comune in the province of Catanzaro, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. History The small town of Belcastro is situated on a rocky spur crowned by a Norman-style castle that belonged to the counts of Aquino and that some propose as the birthplace of Saint Thomas Aquinas, more commonly taken to have been born in the castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino itself. After being for some centuries a fief of the counts of Aquino, it passed in 1300 into the possession of Robert of Anjou, who changed its name from Geneocastro to Belcastro as a tribute to the beauty of the surroundings. In the 15th century it was given the title of city. Its population is now reduced to about 1400. Bishopric The town was the seat of a diocese from at least the early 12th century, but the earliest bishop whose name is known is of the early 13th century. By the papal bull De utiliori of Pope Pius VII in 1828, the territory of the diocese was incorporated into the archdiocese of Santa Severina. No longer a residential bishopric, the diocese, known in Latin as that of Bellicastrum, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Notes and references