The town stands on a hill formed of conglomerates of sea fossils from 60 million years ago.

According to a legend, the inhabitants of the coast, fleeing from a Saracen attack in 915 CE, were led by a sparrowhawk to the mountains commanding the area of Locri, and here they founded the city.

Archeological findings showed that the area was in fact inhabited since the Neolithic Age; also traces of Sicel presence have been found.

After the Byzantine reconquest of Italy in the 6th century, the town became an administrative, military and religious capital under the name of Santa Ciriaca.

During the Sicilian Vespers (late 13th century), Gerace was occupied by the Aragonese Admiral Roger of Lauria who turned it into his own feudal estate; later it became a "Royal City".