Before entering the Poro glimpse of the coast and area one can get a the nothern 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 original plan of a citta' murata by the sea. It was built in the 14th century and was successively increased in size with the construction of bastions 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 example of popular art in the little Church built 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. Travelling 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 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 position guarding the bay, to the Gioia plain, as far as Aspromonte, with its historic memories, its archeological area, to the 18th century Ruffo Castle. From Nicotera to Mileto and Vibo, one may investigate the course of that ancient Roman road, the Popilia. Modern Mileto is a large village bult on a chessboard plan after the 1783 earthquake, it continues the name and the memories of the ancient chief town of the Norman County (Diocesan collection of roman and medieval sculpture), which was famous for the splendour of its buildings. You can find the ruins of these buildings on the hills to the east of the present town. One of these ruins is the great scarpa which stands in an imposing position on the site of the earthquake disaster. Vibo Valentia is the major town of the Poro. It dominates the sea from a high terrace on the northern edge of the plateau. Its hinterland is rich agriculturally, and also possesses a varied beauty. An industrial area and a port below the town are in process of development. There is an extensive modern district as well as the ancient historic centre which with its layout, its churches and civic buildings co.serves its-sense of a vigorous and dignified past. Its origins came from an Italic centre which the Locresi turned into a Greek centre making in a powerful base on the Tyrrhenian. It was then called Hipponion (Greek walls -- ruins of a Temple of Prosperine, and another temple in the C6fino district) and then to be called Valentia by the Romans, under whom the town and port became very flourishing. It was a key- centre for the possessions of middle Calabria, and so through the ages it maintained its considerable importance. The castle, with its Nornam foundations, and with additions during successive centuries, which stands high above the sea and commands an impressive panorama, seems to be a symbol of the life of the town. Below there is the ancient town with the remebrance of the rebuilding of Frederic II (In 1235 the town was called Monteleone, and was changed to Vibo Valentia in 1928). The hill here has its remains of the Angevin period (the De Sirica chapel, of the Renaissance (San Michele -- Santa Maria La Nuova) and of the Baroque (San Leoluca -- Santa Maria degli Angeli), which became a part of 18th and 19th century periods (a period of notable activity, that was not only to be found in the buildings but in literature and in artistic works in gene- ral). This is particularly true of the Napoleonic period when it had the rank of capoluogo del- la Calabria ulteriore, when it became general headquarters of the expeditionary corps that Murat prepared for the invasion of Sicily, and it seemed as trough Mileto was about to take up its rightful place as a Norman nerve centre. There is an interesting private museum here (Capialbi) and there are some fine works of art in the churches.
Pizzo. Piedigrotta's rocky church.
Detail.
Vibo Valentia Marina. The
Port.
Thirrenian coast-line. From
Rocchetta di Briatico towards Saint'Irene.
Tourist accomodation on the Tyrrenian coast.
Parghelia.
...The green
reaches the fringe of the sandi shores. Tropea.
Riagi Cliffs between Tropea
and Ricadi. The grottoes
...aworld which is only
nature and myth.
Capo Vaticano.
.....toward the reignof
fabulous Italo.
Vaticano Cape.