Calabria

Dreams still dwell in the alleys and ancient walls of villages and old towns, but also in the busy streets of cities where the past and the future are the custodians of beauty. Here, the archaic and the contemporary can suddenly meet, in the mythical fig-flavoured ice cream, in the reassuring everyday life of the village of San Fili or in the centre of Cosenza where the Bilotti Open-air Museum, MAB, places works by the great Picasso, Dalì, Rotella or Consagra and Manzù in Corso Mazzini. In Sila, emotions are weaved with the art of spinning: San Giovanni in Fiore is known for its carpets and Longobucco, in the province of Cosenza, is one of the few places where fabrics with colours and designs reminiscent of oriental art are still woven on ancient hand looms. According to tradition, this is possible because in ancient times Turkish pirates kidnapped some local women who, after a long period of time, managed to return to their homeland and spread the art of decoration on canvas. The Calabrian landscape can be experienced in a thousand ways: in slow walks among ancient villages, dips in a deep-bottomed crystal-clear sea, and also in more dynamic experiences, for those who prefer a more active and adrenalin-pumping stay. In the heart of the Pollino, for example, lovers of rafting and canoeing can enjoy these activities in a unique and evocative setting. In Pizzo, Bagnara and other centres, on the other hand, it is possible to experience the thrill of paragliding, hugging the coast and hinterland with your gaze. Visitors to Calabria cannot help but go back in time amidst art and culture. In Reggio Calabria, the National Museum of Magna Graecia houses exhibits ranging from prehistoric times to the Byzantine era, passing through Classical Greece with its Riace bronzes, masterpieces of extraordinary importance for their beauty and historical value. Far from mass tourism, on the other hand, Rossano 'the Byzantine', a village in the province of Cosenza, guards the codex purpureus, a manuscript resulting from Byzantine book production and art that has been recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site, in the 'Memory of the World' category. And those who see Rossano simply cannot miss an immersion in the world of Amarelli liquorice, the world's best liquorice factory since 1731. In Calabria, enchanted beauty alternates with the harshness of the landscape. In Pentedattilo, you can see the village leaning against a high rock in the shape of a gigantic cyclopean hand, Gerace will let you in on many of its 100 churches, while the Archaeological Park of ancient Kaulon in Monasterace, with the remains of the Doric temple by the sea, will leave you speechless.