parallel streets, and the promenade is dotted with rare magnolias and exotic palms. Reggio has commonly used popular nicknames: The "city of Bronzes", after the Bronzes of Riace that are testimonials of its Greek origins; the "city of bergamot", which is exclusively cultivated in the region; and the "city of Fatamorgana", an optical phenomenon visible in Italy only from the Reggio seaside. Etymology During its 3,500-year history Reggio has often been renamed. Each name corresponds with the city's major historical phases: Erythra (Greek for "Red"), allegedly the name of the pre-Greek settlement. Rhegion (Ῥήγιον), the Greek city from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BC. Phoibeia (after Apollo), a short period under Dionysius II of Syracuse, in the 4th century BC. Regium or Rhegium, its first Latin name, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Rhegium Julii (Reggio Giulia), during the Roman Imperial period. Riyyu, Arabic name under the short domination by Emirate of Sicily, between 10th and 11th centuries. Rìsa, under the Normans, between the 11th and 12th centuries. Regols, Catalan name under the Crown of Aragon, in the late 13th century. Reggio or Regio, usual Italian name in the Middle and Modern age. Reggio di Calàbria, post Italian Unification (to be distinguished from Reggio di Lombardia or di Modena – located in northern Italy – which was renamed Reggio nell'Emilia). The toponym of the city might derive from an Italic word rec (meaning king, cognate with Latin rex). Ancient Greek and Roman etymologists derived it from the Greek (ῥηγνυναι, break), referring to a mythic earthquake in which Sicily was broken off from the Italian mainland. History Ancient times The history of the area before the arrival of the Greeks in the eighth century BC is not reliably known. Mythical accounts record a series of different peoples in the region, including the Osci (sometimes referred to as Opici), Trojans, Oenotrians, Ligures, Ausones, Mamertines, Taureani, Sicels, Morgetes and Itali. They also claim that the land around Reggio was first known as Saturnia, or Neptunia. The term 'Italia' initially referred to the area around Reggio itself, before expanding to cover present-day southern Calabria (later known as Bruttium), and finally becoming the name of the whole Italian peninsula around the third century BC. Allegedly, the name derives from king Italus, an Oenotrian king of the region. After Cumae, Reggio was one of the first Greek colonies in southern Italy. The colony was