Some say it comes from the ancient Napitio of Napetia, also consider it of the early Middle Ages and this place-name coming from Napeo, ancient name of the river angitola close to the village. Some others explain the origins of its name referring to the fact that it was born on a blink of a cliff, called “pizzu” in dialect. In 1300 it was one of Ruggero di laurias fiefs. He gaves it to his daughter when she got marriad to a member of the Sanseverinos from Bisignano and to the silvas till the end  of feudalism (1806). Historically Pizzo is very famous because it is the place where they captured and shot (on the 13th of october 1815) the former king of Naples, Gioacchino Murat, Napoleone Bonaparte’s brother-in-law. His body, was bayonetted in the Aragonese Castle, then thrown in a common pit under  hte floor of Church of S. Giorgio and never recovered. Pizzo is also famous because it is the home town of benedetto Musolino, patriot and cospirator of the Italian Risorgimento. In summer time the istorical centre of this famous village, perced above a sheer drop to the sea, is among the most lively and caracteristic places in Calabria. The Tunny-fishing and canning are very important for the local economy which together with the beach draw many people from the hinterland of Vibo Valentia. The village is situated on a high slope and gives the impression of being in a corner of Naples because of its lanes, its two main streets linked by small
stairs, its houses with balconies adorned by gerani, its shops with sign-boards characterized by names which clearly come from Amalfi, its fountains, its smell of fish coming from fishing-shops, its churches and its airy square of Spuntone from where you can enjoy the wiew of the sea from Lametia till Capo Vaticano. A long and tourtuous series of steps connect Pizzo to Marinella, the ward below, where there lives fishers and skilled ceramists, with their workshops who decorated the façades of the houses with artistic and original panels. The sand of Marinella beach is fine, soft and white especially at Seggiola and the little church of Piedigrotta (enriched by black cliffs) considered a paradise by families on olidays.