Where to Find It

B&B La Nostra Casetta

Epigraph

Èmmisi
Ἔμββασις
[read: Émvasis]
‘Imbocco’

Description

The Rofranese place-name Èmmisi, relating to the initial stretch of the Mingardo River, which originates as Faraone on the slopes of Mount Raia del Pedale in the Cervati range, is among the most evocative of the place. It derives directly from the already ancient Greek ἔμβασις, in the more proper sense of ‘river mouth,’ with medieval pronunciation and a slight adaptation to local phonetics. It testifies to the systematic framing of the territory according to a manifestly Byzantine perspective, reinforced by the presence of the Ithalogrean monastery of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata. And it may be a unicum, as the entry does not appear in other toponymic repertories of southern Italy.
The stamp is intended to propose an idealization of the hydronym, drawing its figurative cue from the iconography of the Jordan River of the Baptism of Christ.