As an illiterate shepherd he rambled the desolate Aspromonte mountains around San Luca, Platì and Careri.
During the following century the regression spread to some valleys in the western side of Aspromonte near the Straits of Messina, such as the Catona and Gallico Valleys.
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During the 19th century it was lost in some villages like Pentedattilo, Africo, Brancaleone, Motta San Giovanni, Montebello, and San Lorenzo, on the Ionic side of Aspromonte; and in the first years of the 20th century this spread to the towns of Palizzi, Staiti, Cardeto, Roccaforte del Greco, Amendolea and Condofuri.
Santo Stefano in Aspromonte borders the following municipalities: Gambarie Mannoli Laganadi,Calanna,Sambatello, Reggio Calabria, Roccaforte del Greco,Sant'Eufemia in Aspromonte San Roberto, Sant'Alessio in Aspromonte, Scilla, Podargoni,Cerasi.