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Owing to its topographic location, which made its defence fairly easy, its qualification as a state city, therefore depending from the King only, and for its lack of subordination to a feudal Lord, Tropea attracted a considerable number of Noble families who preferred Tropea to any other city in the area. Several families of the ancient Tropean Aristocracy arrived in Tropea from the nearby centres in order to escape from the dependence of a Feud.

It is well-known that the feudalism in Calabria was an imported phenomenon; it started here when it had come to an end everywhere else. Here the Normans found an administrative political order with its civic magistratures, heirs of the ancient roman order, and of the Medieval and Byzantine institutions. The new rules, coming from North Feuds, brought the northern feudal systems, which had declined everywhere else, and found good grounds to set their roots here.

When  Calabria passed from the dominion of the Goti to the rule of Bisanzio, Tropea, as the rest of Calabria returned  to its greek oriental origins. Also the church gradually passed under the guidance of Costantinopoli patriarch and from the latin language it turned to the use of the grek language. Very little we know about this long period, we only have knowledge  of the names of two bishop from Tropea who attended two Councils. These were the centuries signed by the arrival of the oriental basilian monks, who along with the greek language and culture brought the oriental saints, too, the worship of whom is still radicated among the local people. But the most demanding event for the inhabitans of Tropea, was the explosion of the Arabs presence in the western Mediterranean, above all after their occupazion of Sicily, which led them in view of Tropea. Soon the city, for its strategic location, was in first position in the race between the Arabs and Byzantines for the dominion of Calabria. Firstly occupied by the Saraceni it was freed by Niceforo Foca a Byzantine general who, in 867, once more, made Calabria a part of the oriental roman Empire, driving the Saraceni out  of Tropea, S. Severina and Amantea. For the second time the Saraceni occupied Tropea in 946, and then again in 985.

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Ancient Tropea had some well distinct cultural activities, not just like the ones of a common Calabrian town in the past centuries, but like a town characterized by an open way to sea communications and seat of a spreaded aristocracy. The high number of religious men, canons, nobles, and priests was already in itself a positive fact. Large was the number of doctors in “utroque jure” and of physicians. Not all of them reached a high cultural level. It was not certainly the case, but some of them followed very strict study commitments reaching a solid and broad culture. Therefore, Tropea had all through the centuries valuable personalities in the cultural field who carried out their activities in and outside Tropea. Even the Bishops sent to guide the Diocese, were in many cases distinguished operated as a linking, joining and stimulating element in the cultural life of Tropea was the “Accademia of the Affatigati”, established in XV century. The Academy had some very intense periods, and some ones dull.

The archeological excavations have shown traces of the existence of a Christian Comunity  even before the coming of Giustiniano, but we have no records concerning its size and specific city structure. Nor have we any written records as to the times of the presence of a Bishop, a constituting element of a Christian autonomous Comunity. The paleochristian epigraphs which have come to light  up to now, date back to the period preceding the century before Belisario, they therefore date back at least V and perhaps IV century. The certainty of the existence of a Christian Comunity, merged from the underground, furnishes an easy reference to its natural leader the Bishop. Moreover, as  we can learn from a letter by Pope Gregorio Magno. The Roman Church had purchased, in the Tropea territory, many farm properties, the so called Massa Tropeana, evidence of the wide spreading of Christianity in this area.

The big dispute, which had begun with the discent of Carlo d’Angiò, ended with the conquer of the Southern Ringdom by Ferdinando the Catholic and with the joining of the same Kingdom to the other Spanish possessions. Tropea, now part of the new political order was able to obtain other concessions and privileges by the new King. But Tropea, for its location, was directly exposed to the raids by Turkish pirates in the following centuries. The famous corsair Barbarossa who, with his predatory and sanguinary deads territorized the wole Christian community in the Mediterraneum, anchored peacefully in front of Tropea the only city he respected, perhaps because of a secret agreement made with his father-in-law whom he wanted to meet and who had purposely come from Reggio. Tropea had an important role in the formation of the Christian League’s fleet that won over the Turks in the Lepanto battle. The fleet gathered 2,000 Calabresi who took part in the battle; one of their Leaders was Gaspare Toraldo from Tropea who distinguished himself in the famous battle.

From the end of the Middle Ages to the following centuries, the Clerical Community of Tropea assumed unique and remarkable features that  marked its counter reformist religious physiognomy with a remarkable number of priests and monks. A dynamic element of this internal reality of the church, was the generous availability of the city, mainly of the Noble families, who, with their contributions, largely increased the number of clerical benefits, and contributed to the building of monasteries and churches. On the other hand this redundance in clerical foundations created a closed circle, as in the future the same members of those families or the clergy themselves were the only ones to benefit from that reality, since the church used to choose its city staff from those people.

Tropea is located on a huge oval-shaped cliff once leaning towards the sea without the meditation of the beaches like a small peninsula surrounded by two other big cliffs, that, siding and enveloping it, created an overall landscape effect of outstanding attractiveness. They were rising forward breaking the waves and favouring a longed and safe harbour when man had not yet built one. It was, for a time, Tropea´s harbour. Although, in recent times, the sand, brought by the sea and the surrounding water-ways, as formed, around the town, a beach that separated the arbour from the sea-waters causing a total blockage to the northern side where once the sea had dominated and where it had been possible to land and doc since prehistoric times. Therefore, in recent times, the marina has been built.

All the mentioned conquers and occupations testity that the city, together with Amantea and Squillace, had a fundamental strategic importance for the dominion of the Region. This was due to its topographic position projecting towards the sea just like the bottom of a ship, with a perimeter falling perpendicularly into the sea waters from a hight of 40 mtr. And with the shoulders linked to the hinterland by an easy to block strip. For its predefence and its presence at sea, Tropea became a contested stronghold for the control of the Tirrenian side of the Region, and a reliable point for an eventual getaway. Therefore the walling works done to complete the natural defence system were of little importance. We have no records of how and when these works were carried out and completed.

It is interesting to know what the pick and the eye of the archeologist have to say about the ancient life of the men who lived here in Tropea. In the surroundings it is easy to find proofs of human settlements of neolitic age by sieving the territory rich in obsidian and flint. The man of the cave civilization had stopped behind the cemetery of S.Domenico. The Appenninic Civilization left its traces on the Poro. The “Protovillanoviana” Civilization, present in Tropea, cremated their deads and put their ashes in incinerators which are, nowadays, brought to light by the pick. The first iron civilization (early X-IX century)  developed greatly in the above location of Torre Galli, the ancestor of Tropea in the sourronding back hills, where it has left a big necropolis. It was discovered in 1922 by the famous archeologist Paolo Orsi from Rovereto, who organized two archeological seasons, one in 1922 and one the following year reaching surprising results, but did not completed the necropolis circuit which is still waiting to be largely explored. Recently a short excavation seasons was carried out by the Superintendence of Reggio Calabria. Torre Galli civilization is rich in pottery, bronzes, jewls, and swords all of great interest.

In the centre of Tropea and exactly in Duomo Square, the stratography revealed the constant presence of man, from bronze age until present days. The IV greek century came to light but has never been explored, because of technical difficulties. Underground Tropea the pick has discovered a paleochristian cimitery. In the surrounding hills it is possible to find graves, in riches dug in the rock, of late roman and medieval times.

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