San Luca

San Luca is a municipality in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region of Calabria, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Catanzaro and about 35 kilometres east of Reggio Calabria. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the Aspromontemountain, in the valley of the Bonamico river. At about 10 kilometres from San Luca up the mountain lies the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi.

Stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta
San Luca is considered to be the stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. According to a former 'ndranghetista, "almost all the male inhabitants belong to the 'Ndrangheta, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi has long been the meeting place of the affiliates, known as the Crimin.

Since the 1950s, the chiefs of the 'Ndrangheta locali have met regularly near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi during the September Feast. In 1969 the police raided a meeting near the sanctuary and captured more than 70 'ndranghetisti, while others managed to escape.

The historical preeminence of the San Luca family is such that every new clan or locale must obtain its authorization to operate and every clan belonging to the 'Ndrangheta still has to deposit a small percentage of illicit proceeds to the principale of San Luca in recognition of the latter’s primordial supremacy.

The San Luca feud, a war between the two 'Ndrangheta clans Pelle-Vottari-Romeo and Strangio-Nirta from San Luca that had started in 1991 and resulted in several deaths carried into Germany in 2007; six men were shot to death in front of an Italian restaurant in Duisburg on 15 August 2007.