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 after which its Greek bishop acknowledged papal jurisdiction at the synod of Melfi in 1089.[3][5]
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.
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] The Co-Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in located in Cariati. On January 30, 2001, the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano was elevated to a Metropolitan See with Rossano-Cariati as a suffragan diocese.[7]
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.[8]
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]
