The name of the city derives from the
Greek hierax (ἱέραξ) ("
sparrowhawk"). According to a legend, the inhabitants of the coast, fleeing from a
Saracen attack in 915 CE, were led by a sparrowhawk to the mountains commanding the area of Locri, and here they founded the city. Archeological findings showed that the area was in fact inhabited since the
Neolithic Age; also traces of
Sicel presence have been found. Later, even during the highest splendour of Locri, the hill was inhabited and was later the site of a Roman military garrison. After the
Byzantine reconquest of Italy in the 6th century, the town became an administrative, military and religious capital under the name of
Santa Ciriaca. In 986 the Saracens briefly conquered the city, but it returned to
Byzantine control until the
Norman conquest in 1059. Gerace was seat of a principality under the Normans, whose symbol was the Castle of the Hautville or
Altavilla. It subsequently followed the history of the
Kingdom of Naples. During the
Sicilian Vespers (late 13th century), Gerace was occupied by the Aragonese Admiral
Roger of Lauria who turned it into his own feudal estate; later it became a "Royal City". In 1348 it became a county, a possession of the
Caracciolos,
Gonzalo de Córdoba and, as a principality, of the
Grimaldi (end of the 16th century). With the abolition of feudalism in 1806, Gerace became district capital. In 1847, the population of the district of Gerace rebelled, but the insurrection was eventually repressed by royal troops, and the leaders (including
Rocco Verduci) were sentenced and executed in Gerace. A new modern town, Gerace Marina, was built on the coast in the 19th century to house new public buildings. The name was changed to Locri in 1934. ==Main sights==