The isthmian area and Squillace.

the isthmian area and squillace

You can get very quickly from Catanzaro to the Ionian Coast (Catanzaro Lido, Copanello where there are bathing establishments, and are also well equipped for tourists, including sports facilities), which has extensive and beautiful sandy beaches, and which is cut into a series of rocky inlets by the Staletti Promontory. The navifragum Scylaceum of Virgilian memories, descends here almost sheer into the sea, and is broken up into a number of little bays, into cascades of rocks with the most fantastic names, grottoes, and ravines covered with young pines, oleander trees, heather and tamarisk. This magnificent setting lies to the south of the Squillace plain, and includes the whole of the coastal strip extending right round the bay and covered by olive groves and fields of corn. This is a landscape of serene beauty, and classic atmosphere, full of myths and memories. These historical sensations and archeological remains combine to give a sense of the continuity of life from the early Middle Ages, when the inhabitants took refuge on the high lands where Squillace and Catanzaro were built. On the plain, which is all of great archeological interest, you may find the Greek Skylletion, perhaps marking the first moment of human inhabitation of the area. Recent excavations have been bringing to light a Roman city, perhaps

Copanello coast towards the scoglio del Pellegrino (Pilgrim's rock) and the vivaria of Cassiodoro.

Tourist accomodation on the Ionic Coast. Copanello di Staletti

Copanello di StalettL The Lido. 11

Copanello di Staletfi. A corner of the Lido.

Sports installations on the Ionic coast. Copanello di Staletti.

the later Scolacium. You can already see the theatre, a thermal complex, an amphitheatre, and a necropolis all belonging to the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, while on the coast small tombs, Roman mausoleums have been discovered. The remains of monasteries founded in the 6th century by Cassiodoro, that great Calabrian who collected and saved a great part of classic culture, are to be found on the cliffs of the Staletfi Promontory (in the areas of San Martino and Santa Maria Vetere). Then, names of a phantom cities, a mystery centuries old up to the red ruins of Santa Maria della Roccella, an isolated and enormous sacred construction the date of which is extremely controversial, but which probably belongs to the 10th century. At the end of the plateau, already at the farthest limits of the Serre, is Squillace, heir of ancient coastal centres, which still has in addition to the old city dominated by its castle, valuable memories of its medieval life, including the Gothic Santa Maria della Pieta' and the ancient and still flourishing art of the potter. The nobility of the origins of this craft is to be found in the skill of the local 17th and 18th centuries, including the cathedral, with sculpture belonging to the 16th century). In the immediate surroundings of Catanzaro,

you find Tiriolo (with its feminine clothes, its textile crafts, embroidery, and the Pigghiate re- ligious actions that take place on Good Friday) and which you come to after a short run along the Two Seas Road the State Highway no. 19 giving splendid views over both the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Seas. Its origins as a strategic stronghold from ancient times (there prehisto- ric and Roman remains here) with control over the Catanzaro isthmus can be seen in the town plan that from the height of the castle opens up fan wise towards the major square, with the mother church and the palace of the Feudal lords, the Cicala, in what is a really stupendous setting dominated by the grey mass of the mountain. Continuing along the Two Seas Highway one comes to the Tyrrhenian slopes of the isthmus, with the plain where the fusion of Nicastro Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia the town of Lame- zia Terme will be found. This is an important agricultural and commer- cial area owing to its geographical position (clo- se to the Sun Motorway -- an intercontinental airport is to be constructed w it is also a rail- way junction) and there is no doubt that it will bear an ever more important role in the life of the region. The most important centre here is Nicastro,

..... a breaking up o]t light blue rocks reflecting on the sea. Copanello di Staletti. ..... clear transparencies o[ marine depths. Copanello di Staletfi.

13

which extends from the fortress of Norman ori- gins on the summit, down to the plain and its lively markets (agricultural products, local ter- racotta industry, and the presence of women in traditional costumes) and its modern quarters. The upper city is silent and picturesque, and in addition to its neo-classic cathedral, it has some good examples of 18th century architecture (as far as religious architecture is concerned there are San Domenico and San Francesco, civil ar- chitecture of note include the Statti and D'Ip- polito Palaces. From Nicastro to Sambiase (Ter- me di Caronte) and then for the wooded slopes of the Reventino, where you find Gizzeria Fa- lerna and Nocera Terinese, both ancient for- tresses with their towers and memories of the middle ages (the vattient; at Nocera ). Towards the coast there are memories of lost cities (Tempsa, Terina, Lametia ), some celebrated vi- neyards, and olive groves, bathing resorts and an extremely modern communications system. Between Nicastro of the hills and Nicastro of the coast you find still more echoes of the past in an area which is thick with orange groves. Here are tlae ruins of the Abbey of Sant'Eufe- mia (1062), which recent studies point to as being the first example of Cluniac architectural methods in the-region. The Cluniacs arrived with the Norroans in an 1 lth century Byzantine Calabria. Not far away the compact solid tower of Malta (16th century) has been keeping guard there for centuries.

Tiriolo. Climb to the Castle.

Sambiase. Cbaron's Thermae.

~ ~,i~

15

theporo

Pizzo. Piedigrotta's rocky church. Detail.

Vibo Valentia Marina. The port.

The Poro

A green peninsula that is divided from the Serre by the Mesina valley, the Poro plateau juts out into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the bays of Sant'Eufemia and Gioia. A pleasant place with an ancient civilization, it has its par- ticular part in the strong contrast that exists in Calabria, in its history, in its human relations- hips, in its nature, even in the components of its landscape. Its mildness and its luzuriant ve- getation, its historical background, its place in the arts and its customs, all have a distinctive

aspect. Before entering the Poro glimpse of the coast and

area one can get a the notbern slopes

from Pizzo, projecting out in the centre of the Lamentine Bay. But Pizzo is a separate reality. One can bring Pizzo into the Poro more for a sense of contrast than for any accord. A coastal town, and it recalls in its oldest parts the origi- nal plan of a cittt} murata by the sea. It was built in the 14th century and was successively increased in size with the construction of ba- stions on the Seggiola and of the Aragonese castle, and it also became linked to the tragic end of Murat. Its bursting, gay vitality gives it an unusual character in its association with such austere memories of the past. This character is marked by the vivacity of its inhabitants, in the picturesque nature of its streets and lanes cut out of the face of the rocks, in the festive succesion of loggias and flower-filled balconies standing sheer above the sea, or in the little narrow streets inside the town, in the animation in its market and its square with its intense ligth and colouring. There are also some monuments of interest such as the Castle, the Collegiate Church with its 17th century facade and 16th century sculptures, and with the fascinating ex- ample of popular art in the little Church built

16

on the rocks at Piedigrotta (19th century) which is full of statue groups carved out of tufa. Proceeding southwards one can travel round the coastal rim of the Poro, touching Briatico Tropea Nicotera, or cut through the centre of the interior, through stupendous olive groves, from Vibo Valentia to Mileto, and then from Nicotera, to climb back up the coast. Travell- ing through the pleasant slopes of the plateau (where you'll find pre-historic remains Roman ruins and Basilian grottoes) you can enter the heart of this little CaIabria Felix, kingdom of the fabulous Italo and the place where an ex- tremely ancient civilization, belonging to the dawn of history,' flourished. After the extensive litoral of Vibo Marina, the coastline becomes higher, and descends in ter- races to the sea where you find graceful inlets, and delightful coves (La Rocchetta di Briatico, the << praia >> di 'Zambrone, Sant'Irene). Here the greenery reaches almost down to the edge of the sands, girds Tropea standing high on its rock at the back of a littleport. This is a small kindly town with a history that speaks both of industrious character and of good taste and it has conserved with its architectural documents from the 12th to the 19th century, a subdued but noble sense of the monumental. In a quiet but pleasant series of squares and streets you can go from the lovely cloister of the Annun- ciata (15th century) on the Via di Ric, adi, to the clean lines of Santa Maria di Michelizia (16th century) that seems to emerge out of orange groves. There is the graceful Gothic of the San Demetrio Oratory and the mixture of Renaissance and Baroque interiors in the chur- ches, not to mention the 16th and 17th century little palaces all of which entitled old Tropea to be known as primeggi& tra le citta tirreniche calabresi. Sometimes one gets the feeling here of being suspended in time and this feeling is accentuated in the silent church square along

Tyrrhenian coast-line. From Rocchetta di Briatico towards Sant'Irene. Tourist accomodation on the Tyrrheni,qn coast. Parghelia.

17

..... a world which is only nature and myth. Capo Vaficano.

..... The green reaches the/ringe o/the sandy shores. Tropea.

one side of which is a rare example of a Gothic loggia, that links the bishop's palace to the Ro- manesque Cathedral (12th and 13th centuries) in which you'll be delighted by some notable works of art in the interior. Setting out again on the journey along the coast one enters a world that is wholly nature and myth. At Cape Vaticano, from the top of a sheer rock one's eye takes in a wide horizon, extending from Etna (in Sicily) to the Aeolian Island towards Cape Palinuro. Outside history and human dimensions this landscape has a truly Homeric atmosphere about it. Then one makes one's return between the sea and some gentle slopes to Nicotera, which lies in a stupendous

Riagi Cliffs between Tropea and Ricadi. The grottoes.

Copanello di Staletti. The Lido.


Copanello coast towards the scoglio del Pellegrino (Pilgrim's rock) and the vivaria of Cassiodoro.


Tourist accomodation on the Ionic Coast. Copanello di Staletti.