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In Calabria’s heart

For many people, the well-known Calabria is one of Tropea and Capo Vaticano, with its suggestive beaches and cliffs, in front of Stromboli’s island, not far from Sicily. Really Calabria isn’t just that one.

Half hour from the Lamezia’s international airport and twenty minutes by car from the highway exit Falerna – A3, going to north, we can find the ancient medieval village Belmonte Calabro, an Anjou age still intact village, placed on a rocky hill overlooking the sea with a wide view on all the Eolie islands. Its urban structure is still perfectly kept, and in tis alleys and narrow staircases it’s possible to breath the ancient times’ atmosphere. It’s considered as one of the thirteen most beautiful Calabria’s villages, it also belongs to a wide territory, itself rich in ancient villages and castle worthy to be visited, and it’s surrounded by a luxuriant nature where, during fall, it’s possible to pick up valuable mushrooms and delicious chestnuts. By many points of view, although it has typical characteristics of southern Italy, this territory is very similar to a miniature “little Switzerland”. Along Veri River, a spring stream into which water flows in every time of the year and where rare plants vegetate, it’s possible to make long naturalistic hikes, in a territory without human presence. In its quarters and country wards, scattered on surrounding hills’ crests it’s possible to be present to those ancient rites, as bread and home-made pasta making and season’s preserves. Belmonte’s territory is rich in water sources and in one of these, Peppalo’s one, some very clear and diuretic water flows. Whilst the sea is reachable with a six minutes of car trip, “Casalini” pine wood is reachable with a ten minutes trip; at a height of 1050 metres (3.444,88 ft.) where is an equipped picnic area and it’s also possible to take long hikes. In the village are worthy to be visited the Anjou castle’s ruins and the small museum of the Belmonte’s peasant tradition.

The coastal is wide and with a fine sand at times mixed with little pebbles, and it’s also suitable for long sun-baths, even in october and in november. It’s also possible to fish for from the shore, to take long walks and to breath hyodium emanated by the waves.

The local gastronomy is rich in mediterranean scents and flavours it offer are very most valuable than the trip to come to taste those ones. The restaurants, where it’s possible to taste dishes of home-made pasta, fresh fish dishes and the very numerous pig meat specialities (real “heroes” of this land’s cuisine) are of high quality.

The visitors who love to sunk in history’s places, with a car trip of a half hour, can visit villages Fiumefreddo Bruzio, whose castle keeps Italian painter Salvatore Fiume’s paintings; Cleto, located on the rocky Monte Sant’Angelo (Saint Angelo’s mountain), surrounded by the “Valle degli Ulivi” (olives’ valley), where the ancient Cybo Malaspina palace makes a fine showing, Malaspina family gave birth two Popes, eight Cardinals and dozens of bishops. In much more far places, after a car trip of about two hours and after going through Cosenza city and crossing over Sila’s woodland rises, it’s possible to visit “Santa Severina”, the most important historic document not only in Calabria, but in the whole southern Italy.

For shopping lovers, Amantea, with its shops which sell brand-name products and typical products, is very near. Behind its back, located on a rocky hill where there are the ruins of a Saracen castle, there’s the old fishermen’ quarter, today inhabited by many painters and joiner artists. One of Amantea’s peculiarities, in addition to San Bernardino monumental monastery, is the fresh fruit and vegetable market. It exists since 1532 and vendors aren’t traders rather they’re farmers who sell the fruits of their plot of ground; this is a gallery of picturesque and folkloric characters.

Written By Sergio Zanardi
For MediterraneoCase