Aspromonte
An expanse of uncontamined woods sloping towards the coast, imposing natural monuments, and wild waterways crossed by suggestive rock formations. Aspromonte can be considered a true paradise of biodiversity, an immense container of colours, lights, and contrasts able to leave anyone speechless who is lucky enough to visit its places and cross its paths.
In the Aspromonte National Park, established in 1989 as the sixth Italian park, about 1,500 species coexist, or more than half of the entire regional heritage. It is an ecosystem located at the centre of the Mediterranean whose richness and extraordinary variety are due to its unique climatic and orographic characteristics and which find in the larch pine the tree that is symbolic of the entire area.
In the massif they stand out against the floristic biodiversity, and there is also a great faunal richness that includes many animal species among birds of prey (golden eagle, the eagle owl, the short-toed snake eagle, and the sparrow haw, just to mention the most well-known) and mammals such as the wolf, which just recently came back and populated the habitat of the Reggio mountain, the black squirrel, the wild board, the marten, and the wild cat. A privileged destination for those who love and are passionate about the mountains, the park offers numerous nature trails to explored on foot, skis, by canoe, bicycle, or on horseback.
In the winter season, with the spectacle of the snowy hills from which it is possible to see the Messina Strait until the summer, Aspromonte offers breath-taking landscapes in which the mountain seems to caress the sea, in an exciting carousel of emotions that from the great peaks extends to the Tyrrhenian and Ionic sides. Of great value is also the heritage of traditions that the Aspromonte Mountain has preserved and handed down for centuries. The ancient arts, customs, and cultural imprints that are revived today in activities related to local crafts, food and wine, the Greek dialect spoken in the Greek area communities, folkloristic demonstrations in the square, and the strong bond that unites the land with the faith and that finds in Polsi one of the symbolic places of worship, a meeting point for thousands of pilgrims each year.
In the land of the Calabrian Greeks
Located in the centre of the Greek area, in a position slightly more inland than the Ionian coast and the gates of Aspromonte, Condofuri includes in its municipality several villages and hamlets linked to the language and culture of the Calabrian Greeks. The most important - Gallicianò and Amendolea [...]
Mammola, the village of ancient flavours
Suspended halfway between the sea and the sky and situated between the mysterious woods of the Serre Calabresi and the primitive landscape of Aspromonte – of which it is considered the door to the National Park – the town of Mammola stands in all of its beauty like a work of art from the ancient pas [...]
Molochio: the ancient garden of the mallows
The name of the place, Molochio, comes from the Greek term “molòkion” and refers to mallows, the flowers that grow next to the fruit trees typical of the Mediterranean scrubland, especially olive and fig trees and chestnuts.
The historical records attest the presence of the village as far back as [...]
Oppido Mamertina and its ancient history
The ancient city of Oppido Mamertina is located on the slopes of Aspromonte, immersed in a forest of luxurious ancient olive trees. Roughly 35% of the territory of Oppido has been declared of significant environmental interest and is included within the perimeter of the Aspromonte National Park. The [...]
Palizzi: where Italy begins
The great cultural and architectural history of Palizzi is combined with the strong flavours of Calabria. The town lies between the mountains of Grappida and Caruso, under the ruins of an imposing castle of which it is its symbol. The town is divided into four hamlets: Palizzi Marina, Palizzi Superi [...]
Polistena, in the heart of Piana
Polistena, a town in the Plain of Gioia Tauro, situated between the ancient Magna Graecia colonies of Locri and Medma, owes its name to possible etymological interpretations, both of Greek derivation: “strong city” for its fortifications, and “very narrow” for its geographical location.
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