Columna Regia o Stylarion a Cannitello. Ad Trajectum Siciliae. Individuazione del sito

Abstract

This contribution aims to establish the exact place where the Columna Regia once stood, also known in ancient times as Colonna Reggina and Stylarion. The indications of Strabone and Pliny the Elder are essential, indicating the Cenis or Cenide (in Calabria), in front of Capo Peloro (in Sicily), as a geographical place where Columna Regia stood, i.e. the point where a column-shaped building was located to indicate the transit place to Sicily in Roman times, called Ad Trajectum Siciliae, corresponding with the territory of Cannitello on the Calabrian shore of the Strait of Messina. A military map of 1702, together with other cadastral maps of 1844 and 1925, show the point where Columna Regia was located. The earthquake of 1783 caused the Reggina Column to collapse definitively and what was left of it after two millennia.