www.CalabrianGenealogy - Cortale, Italy

Cortale is the villiage of my grandmother, Caterina Maiuolo. It is located near the comunes of Maida and Jacurso. Cortale is divided into two sections Upper Cortale (also called Donnafiore) an lower Cortale also called Cortale Inferiore. Pronounced Cortala, this comune has a proud heritage of art. It's most famous citizens are The Cefaly's.

The picture above is a statue done by Andrea Cefaly, Sr. and is actually a political statement. See the note at the bottom of this page. The Cortalesi are proud of their heritage and this small comune has roots going back to the days of the Roman Empire. The patron saint of Cortale is St. John, The Baptist.

A view from lower Cortale of Upper Cortale.

Immigration Out Of Cortale

Cortale was especially hard hit by the mass emmigration from about 1880 through the 1920's. Once a large bustling town with a population close to 6,000 it now has 2,772 citizens. My grandmother's family came from this comune. Most of her family left Cortale during the mass immigration. They continuted to leave Cortale for the United States up until 1920. Many of my grandparents neighbors in the Chicago area came from Cortale. The majority of her family moved here as well. Cousins, aunts, uncles all moved here and did not leave much family behind.

Legends From Cortale

The Holy Cross.The inhabitants of Cortale tell a story that explains their devotion to the Holy Cross. It is said that while ploughing the land, something very strange happened to a peasant. He realized that his oxen were kneeling at a certain spot on his land, and decided to find out why. In the very spot where the animals were stopping he found a strange stone cross with miraculous properties. For this reason the Church of Santa Croce was built there.

The road to Upper Cortale -the stone shrine is "Donnafiore". A statue of the Madonna is inside

Another Cotale Legend

Poor Betta''s oak Another Coratle legend says that years ago in Cortale a violent gang of bandits lay in hiding in the Spano area and robbed and hanged travelers. One day the gang leader’s mother, who was deeply saddened by her son’s cruelty, thought it better to have a son who was dead rather than one who was a bandit. So she decided to poison him. At dinnertime she served an omelet made of poisonous herbs. But the wrongdoer, becoming suspicious, made his dog taste it. After a few moments the animal dropped dead. The bandit ordered his mother to be hanged from the highest oak tree in the village. And to this day it has been called "poor Betta''s oak" (after the woman).

Mayors of Cortale

1808-1811 Gennaro Cefali

1811-13 Vincenzo Cefalì De Caria

1814 Antonio Pallegrini

1815-16 Flaminio Malta

1817-19 Pasquale Venuti

1820-21 Annibale Pellegrini

1821 Francesco Pellegrini

1822-23 Annibale Pellegrini

1824-28 Pasquale Venuti

1828 Flaminio Malta

1829-32 Pietro Cristofari

1832-34 Francesco Vallone

1835-37 Pietro Bilotta

1838 Fortunato Cefalì

1839-41 Domenico Pellegrini

1842 Pietrantonio Cefalì De Rinaldis (royal delegate)

1843-44 Domenico Pellegrini

1845-47 Francesco Parisi

1848-51 Domenico Pellegrini

1852-54 Antonio Cristofari

1854-58 Antonio Cefalì

1859 Giovanni Malta

1860 , Fortunato Venuti

1861, Giovanni Provenzano

1862-64 Domenico Pellegrini

1864-68 Giovanni Provenzano

1868 Giuseppe Vallone

1868-69 Ortensio De Jozzi (royal delegate)

1870-72 Domenico Pellegrino

1873-78 Antonio Cefaly

1878 Fortunato Venuti

1879-83 Antonio Cefaly

1884 Giovanni Provenzano

1885-88 Francesco Cinque

1889-91 Giuseppe Vallone

1892-98 Francesco Pellegrini Rhao

1899-1900 Perfetto Cefaly

1901-05 Francesco Pellegrini Venuti

1905 Francesco Pellegrini Rhao

1906-08 Raffaele Barilà

1909 Giuseppe Bertone (royal commissioner)

1909-14 Francesco Pellegrini Venuti

1914-15 Vincenzo Bonelli

1916-20 Giovanni Pellegrini Rhao

1920-23 Francesco Pellegrini Venuti

1923-28 Francesco Mangani

1929 Pirrò Pirozzi (commissioner)

1930-32 Giovanni Migliaccio

1932 Francesco Riga (commissioner)

1933-34 Giovanni Migliaccio (commissioner)

1934 Michele Galatà (commissioner)

1935-37 Giovanni Pellegrini Rhao

1938-43 Carlo Cefaly

1943 Carlo Cefaly

1944 Fortunato Cefaly

1945 Michele Silipo

1945-48 Giuseppe Sgotto

1949 Amedeo Cappelli

1949 Cosimo Saraceno

1950-52 Domenico Majolo

1952-56 Francesco Cefaly

1956-60 Giovanni Riga

1960-70 Domenico Todaro

1970-80 Tommaso Mungo

1980-83 Paolo Scalfaro

1983-84 Antonio Ciliberti

1984-85 Antonio De Marco

1985-90 Domenico Siclar

1990-95 Domenico Simonetta

1995-99 Raffaele Muraca

1999-.... Domenico Melandro

Chiesa di Cortale (Churches)

Chiesa di Santa Maria Cattolica Maggiore

Chiesa Matrice di Santa Maria Cattolica

Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista

Andrea Cefaly's statue is a political statement. The Lady in this statue represents the newly formed Italy and if you notice her back is to the Church. It was made in 1870 the year Italy became a unified country.