Reggio di Calabria, commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As of 2025, it has 168,572 inhabitants and is the twenty-first most populous city in Italy, after Modena. Reggio Calabria is located near the center of the Mediterranean and is known for its climate, and ethnic and cultural diversity. It is the third economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. About 511,935 people live in its metropolitan city.
Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. It is situated on the slopes of the Aspromonte, a long, craggy mountain range that runs up through the centre of the region.
As a major functional pole in the region, it has strong historical, cultural and economic ties with the city of Messina, which lies across the strait in Sicily, forming a metro city of less than 1 million people. Reggio is the oldest city in the region.
(source Wikipedia).
Reggio is where my paternal family is from. Sadly, I never had the chance to visit, but my younger brother did.
My paternal ancestry
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| Source National Geographic |
I sure hope that members of my enlarged family (cousins) see this, as I'm sharing this precisely for them.
20% of Southern Italians Share this genetic marker: M176. They migrated from the Middle East. In my case, my early ancestors lived in the area of Jericho. Those 20% Southern Italians come from the once Kingdom of Israel (1,100 BC.), that split in two (974 BC.), to yield the Kingdom of Judah in the south. The northern Kingdom of Israel was 1st to be invaded and conquered by the Assyrians (750 BC.). Later, the southern Kingdom of Judah was utterly destroyed by the Babylonians around 600 B.C. The survivors fled, hid, or were taken captive.
A year or more ago, I had asked the Lord in a prayer, If it was true that I was of Benjamin, and he did answer me, with a sharp and brief yes, even before I had finished my words. (some may scoff at this, but...)
Interestingly, my maternal ancestry is Ashkenazi Jew. That was done by an other company that was affiliated with Nat. Geo., at the request of my daughter.
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