Born on 7 August 1743 to Francesco and Caterina Dieni, Rocco Bova was endowed with a fertile intellect.
\nHis outstanding intellectual gifts impressed his already renowned uncle Giuseppe, who directed him toward\nstudies in literature, mathematics, and medicine, admitting him to the respected school he conducted in Scilla.
\nAt the age of seventeen, in order to continue his studies, he entered the Seminary of Reggio Calabria, where he\nbecame a pupil of Morisani.
\nTo further cultivate his inclination for the physical and mathematical sciences, he moved to the Convent of the\nMinims of Saint Francis of Paola, where the corrector father, Fra Alessandro Ala, and Fra Domenico Caristina\nwere distinguished teachers of these disciplines.
\nAfter completing this course of study, his uncle Giuseppe decided to send him to Bologna to earn a doctorate\nin medicine; this took place in May 1765.
\nHaving enrolled at the university there, he devoted himself to the study of anatomy, medicine, physics, botany,\nastronomy, and mathematics.
\nWithin a short time he acquired such expertise that he designed four sundials for the four corners of the observatory.\nDrawn by the fame of the electrical experiments being conducted in Florence by Abbot Fontana, he moved there.
\nIn Florence he met Dr. Giovanni Lami, already a friend of his uncle Giuseppe, and, like the latter, published\nseveral dissertations in the Novelle Letterarie. He became a member of the Florentine Academy, the Academy\nof the Apatisti, and the Botanical Academy.\nHe wrote an astronomical memoir which he sent to the Elector Palatine, Charles Theodore of Mannheim, from\nwhom he received a gold medal as a mark of appreciation and a letter stating that the Elector had submitted\nthe memoir to his astronomer, the Jesuit Father Mayer, who had judged it highly original because it dealt with\nsubjects never before addressed by other scholars.\nWhen the French Academy asked Abbot Fontana to recommend an Italian astronomer willing to travel to Japan\nto observe the transit of Venus across the solar disk, the abbot, aware of Bova\u2019s abilities, proposed him for\nthe task.
\nBova declined, however, because he had been summoned to Naples by the Marquis Vargas Macciucca, who offered\nhim a position as professor of experimental physics at the Royal College of the Salvatore. Arriving too late in\nNaples, he found the chair already occupied by another professor and had to settle for teaching mathematics\nat the college in Salerno.
\nMeanwhile, he decided to earn degrees in philosophy and medicine, both to fulfill the wishes of his celebrated\nuncle, a physician, and to enable himself to practice the profession.
\nDuring these years, at the request of the prior of the Charterhouse of San Martino, Abbot Alessio Pansa, he\ncompleted his greatest masterpiece: a perfectly executed meridian line.\nAt the Charterhouse of San Martino in Naples it is still possible to admire three remarkable sundials; the first,\nand the most beautiful and famous, is the meridian line located in the Prior\u2019s Quarters, created by Bova in 1771.
\nThe Prior\u2019s Quarters formed the residence of the spiritual guide of the Carthusian community and included the\nprior\u2019s rooms and a library.
\nThe meridian line is located in Room 33 of the former library and is set into a floor of glazed terracotta tiles\ncreated by the Neapolitan artist Leonardo Chiaiese.\nThe meridian line is considered one of the most singular and complex examples of its kind, both for the artistic\ndesign of its bronze bands and for the quantity of astronomical, geometrical, and geographical information\nit provides through an intricate network of readable data, as well as for its prestigious placement within an\narchitectural setting of exceptional value that actively interacts with it. It is, in fact, regarded as \u201cone of the\nhighest expressions of eighteenth-century Neapolitan culture.\u201d
\nBeyond its beauty, it is striking for its scientific precision and completeness.
\nBronze strips arranged in the form of columns are engraved with the gradations of daylight, making it possible\nto determine, for every day of the year, the times of sunrise and sunset, as well as the altitude and declination\nof the Sun. It also indicates on which days the Sundays of the year fall according to a perpetual calendar.
\nParticularly admirable are the two compass roses in gray marble and the constellation map, whose stars are\npositioned along the meridian line according to the period of the year in which they cross the local meridian at\nmidnight.
\nFinally, symbols and images\u2014including a human face, perhaps a self-portrait of Bova himself\u2014represent the\nzodiac signs, the Sun, a gulf (probably Naples), a mountainous landscape, and small harbors.\nRocco Bova was also the creator of another meridian line, now lost together with the building that housed it,\nnamely the Palazzo dell\u2019Orsolone at Camaldoli, also in Naples.
\nThe following year, in 1773, he was appointed by the Court as professor of trigonometry at the Royal College of\nthe Salvatore in Naples, where he taught until the institution was closed in 1779.
\nDuring that period, under the initiative of Monsignor Galliani, its general director, work was underway on the\ngreat geographical map of the Kingdom. Aware of Bova\u2019s abilities, Galliani entrusted him with collaborating on\nthe project alongside the geographer Giovanni Antonio Rizzi Zannoni. Bova accepted and thus had the opportunity\nto become acquainted with many provinces, an experience that proved valuable in preparing the map.
\nIn 1782 he created another meridian line at the Monastery of the Trinity of Cava, at the invitation of Abbot\nPasqua.
\nFollowing the death of his uncle Giuseppe, who perished in the earthquake of 1783, Rocco was compelled to\nreturn to Scilla in order to protect the interests of his family, which had lost such an important support.\nThere he met his learned cousin Antonio Minasi, who had been sent by the Royal Academy, together with other\nscientists, to study the phenomena caused by the devastating earthquake that had struck Calabria; together\nthey devoted their scientific expertise to the task and produced insightful observations.
\nThis later enabled Bova, while staying in London with his brother Mariano, to point out errors made by Sir William\nHamilton in his report on the Calabrian disaster of 1783, which had been submitted to the Royal Society.\nBova then had the opportunity to write his own scholarly memoir on the subject and present it to the same\nRoyal Society, which praised his work.
\nDuring his stay in London he was offered the chair of humanities at the University of Cambridge, a position he\ndeclined because it required six years of residence.
\nThere he became acquainted with distinguished literary and scientific figures, such as the celebrated astronomer\nLalande, as well as prominent political personalities, including the Corsican Pasquale Paoli, who became a\ngenerous friend.\nAfter the disaster of 1783 he settled permanently in Scilla, where he started a family by marrying Maria Angela\nMinasi. He devoted the remainder of his life to his hometown and became its mayor in 1798.
\nIn this role he first traveled to Palermo to petition the sovereign and then to Naples to appeal to the lieutenant\nof the kingdom, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, on behalf of his fellow citizens, who sought the restoration of the\nprivilege\u2014originally granted by Emperor Charles V\u2014allowing them to import specified quantities of grain and\nlegumes from Sicily exempt from royal duties.
\nThe abolition of feudalism, which added new disputes to the longstanding conflicts between the Municipality\nof Scilla and its feudal lord, found Rocco Bova once again defending his town, as he had already done in 1776\nand 1778 before the Sacred Junta of Scilla and the Royal Council, together with the respected Father Antonio\nMinasi.
\nWhen disputes arose concerning the Aspromonte forest, he traveled to Monteleone (today Vibo Valentia) to\nmeet the intendant, the historian Pietro Colletta.\nColletta entrusted him with the task of preparing a topographical map of the territory of Scilla, which he carried\nout with great skill in order to resolve the dispute with the Ruffo family.
\nHe was deeply attached to his famous cousin Antonio Minasi, whose study on the hermit crab he published, enriching\nit with a lengthy introduction highlighting the achievements and works of the distinguished naturalist.
\nRocco Bova died on 27 June 1831.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/i>Next page: 88. Church of San Rocco<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1913,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1390","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nRocco Bova - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/rocco-bova\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rocco Bova - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/rocco-bova\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:35:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1438\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rocco Bova - Discover Scilla\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T09:21:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-19T08:35:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1438},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/rocco-bova\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rocco Bova\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Discover Scilla\",\"description\":\"Scopri territorio, storia e racconti di questa magica terra\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Discover Scilla\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-discover-scilla.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-discover-scilla.png\",\"width\":481,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Discover Scilla\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rocco Bova - Discover Scilla","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/rocco-bova\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rocco Bova - Discover Scilla","og_url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/rocco-bova\/","og_site_name":"Discover Scilla","article_modified_time":"2026-08-19T08:35:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1438,"url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/","name":"Rocco Bova - Discover Scilla","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-23T09:21:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-19T08:35:25+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Uscita-San-Rocco-2.jpg","width":2560,"height":1438},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/rocco-bova\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rocco Bova"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/","name":"Discover Scilla","description":"Scopri territorio, storia e racconti di questa magica terra","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#organization","name":"Discover Scilla","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-discover-scilla.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-discover-scilla.png","width":481,"height":250,"caption":"Discover Scilla"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1390"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2626,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1390\/revisions\/2626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}