In 597, the Diocese of Rossano was established from the former
Diocese of Thurio. The first known bishop of this see is Valerianus, Bishop of the "Ecclesia Rosana" in the Roman Council of 680.[3]
The
Oratory of San Marco in
Rossano was built in the 10th century by
St. Nilus the Younger as a place of retirement for nearby
eremite monks and is one of the most important testimonies to
Byzantine art in Italy.[4] In 982
Emperor Otto II captured
Rossano temporarily from the Byzantines, who had made it the capital of their possessions in Southern Italy. It preserved its Greek character long after its conquest by the
Normans.[3]
The Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Achiropita is the seat of the Archbishop of Rossano-Cariati. Built in the 11th century, it houses an ancient image of the Madonna Acheropita, an image of the
Madonna and Child dated to somewhere between about 580 and the first half of the 8th century. The Co-Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in located in
Cariati.
In 1460, the Diocese was elevated to an Archdiocese.[1]
The famous Codex Rossanensis was discovered in 1879 in the Rossano cathedral sacristy.[3]
On February 13, 1919, the Diocese had territory transferred to create the
Eparchy of Lungro for the
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.[1] On April 4, 1979, the Archdiocese was merged with the
Diocese of Cariati to become the Archdiocese of Rossano e Cariati. On September 9, 1986, the Archdiocese was renamed to Archdiocese of Rossano–Cariati[2] On January 30, 2001, the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano was elevated to a Metropolitan See with Rossano-Cariati as a suffragan diocese.[6]
Inspired by
Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si', the nuns of the Convent of Saint Augustine in Rossano developed in conjunction with ten sponsoring organizations, the Rossano Garden Park project. They arrived in Rossano in 2009 from
Eremo di Lecceto in Siena; St. Augustine's is the first convent of Augustinian nuns in Calabria. Experts assisted with the planting of a wide variety of trees, carefully selected and compatible with the altitude, climate, and native flora.[7]
Rite
In the tenth century, or perhaps earlier, the
Greek Rite was introduced at Rossano, and continued until the sixteenth century, although two attempts were made to introduce the
Latin Rite – once in 1092, and again by Bishop Matteo de' Saraceni in 1460. Priests of the Latin Rite, however, were often appointed bishops.[3][better source needed] The Greek Rite was maintained especially by the seven Basilian monasteries in the diocese, the most famous of which was
Santa Maria in Patiro. In 1571 the Greek Rite was abandoned in the cathedral, and half a century afterwards throughout the city.[3]
The archdiocese includes the ancient
Diocese of Turio (Thurii), a city which arose after the destruction of Sybaris; five of its bishops are known, the first being Giovanni (501) and the last Guglielmo (1170).[3]