This land was inhabited by Bretti, Greeks and Romans. In the past this spur was considered a sacred place, and it was known in all Magna Graecia: here priests and fortune-tellers predicted the future. Here there was the mythical ‘porto Ercole’ (Hercules harbour), maybe in Ruffa River valley. In fact in this area there are the remains of big walls, these walls probably belonged to warehouses used to store stuffs that had to be traded by sea. But the floods of the river filled the valley. Porto Ercole is mentioned by Strabone and Plinio il Vecchio.

Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks traded their products with local population on the beach of Santa Maria, Torre Ruffa and Grotticelle. The ancients called Capo Vaticano spur "Taurianum Promontorium", then during Roman age the name became "Promontorio Vaticano". Vaticano comes from "Vaticinium", a Latin word meaning "oracle, response". A legend tells that in the past there was an oracle (the prophetess Manto). Sailors used to consult her when they had to sail, because she was able to predict or to avoid the anger of Scilla and Cariddi (the streams of the strait).

This region was strongly Christian and maybe preserving this name the inhabitants wanted to underline a link to Rome and the Pope.

Until 1806 Ricadi and its villages were hamlets of Tropea. In 1806 they became independent thanks to the decree by French General Championnet. Then on 4^th May 1811 a decree transformed Ricadi in a municipality.

In the following years, Calabria was governed by Borboni family and was divided into three provinces: Calabria Ulteriore (the main town was Cosenza), Calabria Ulteriore Prima (the main town was Reggio Calabria) and Calabria Citeriore Seconda (the main town was Catanzaro). Ricadi belonged to Calabria Ulteriore Seconda.