CALABRIA in & out..

Passeggiata at Pizzo Marina.

Once our train trips south start to venture past Amantea from our home base of Scalea, making the journey in one day entails catching the first train which leaves at six o’clock in the morning, later trains can be caught but the synchronising with train changes and buses makes the journey longer and slightly more complicated. However if you’re like me this early start isn’t a problem as the second power nap on the train leaves me ready and refreshed for the day’s activities.

The fifty five minute journey from Amantea to Vibo Valentia Pizzo is probably the longest part of the journey with the least stops as the Airport town of Lamezia Terme is the only one. The station is in the industrial area on the plains of Lamezia and getting to the town centre requires a car, but in brief Lamezia Terme is renowned for its large spa complex and its constant battle with mafia influence over its commune, so we’ll write about this area at a later date.
The train station which serves the hill town of Vibo Valentia and the coastal town of Pizzo is about half way between them both with a regular circular bus from the station up to Vibo then down to Pizzo retuning to the station to start the journey all over again.

Our train pulls into the station a little before eight when the bus is already at the station waiting for us, and in less than thirty minutes we’re in the main piazza of Valentia to take morning coffee in the cafes with the locals people.

The towers of San Leoluca Cathederal.

The bus drops off very close to the doors of the San Leoluca cathedral and after coffee this is our first port of call, the doors of the cathedral are a bronze work of art by the sculptor Giuseppe Niglia.

The Cathederal doors.

Leaving the piazza we take a meander through the centro storico and head towards the town’s Norman castle which is the main reason for our visit, and a not to be missed experience.

Vibo castle.

Perched high on the hill its views out and over to the Silo national park are breath taking, but the biggest surprise to us on our first visit is that the castle houses an excellent Greek museum, maybe not at the grandeur that the Greek museums of Paestum and Reggio Calabria have to offer, but for a town hardly spoken about still very impressive.

The town has had a chequered history, first established by the Greeks in the 7^th century BC and named Hipponion its early history saw occupation by rival Greeks from Sicily, the Carthaginians, the Bruttii (an early local tribe of Calabria) and finally becoming the Roman colony of Vibo Valentia in 194 BC. Structures, ruins and artefacts of all these occupations can be and have been found in and around the town and it is now established that a Greek Acropolis once stood where the castle now sits.

With all this in mind you can easily understand why the museum has such a wealth of exhibits.

Looking out from Vibo castle.

Back to the piazza and a short bus ride to the coastal town of Pizzo Calabro.

The main piazza Pizzo.

I have to admit that Pizzo is one of my favourite towns on this coast after once saving me from the disappointment I felt when first visiting the nearby (in our opinion) over-acclaimed, commercialised town of Tropea, which again I’ll explain in my next writing.

The Garibaldi fountain Pizzo.

Being overshadowed by its popular, touristy neighbour Pizzo has managed to keep that real Italian feel and the bus from Vibo drops you off just behind the main Piazza and into this Italian idyll.

OK the piazza is not without the usual fault of all tourist towns where touts dressed as waiters and waitresses try and entice you into their restaurants but just off the piazza the restaurants let you read their outside menus in peace, if dinner is what you are looking for.

Band at Pizzo strawberry festival.

The piazza is large in comparison to the size of the town’s centro storico and the first time we visited without knowing we had arrived on the days of the town’s strawberry festival when the piazza was alive with folk and jazz bands, people in giant dancing costumes but most important of all free strawberries!

Stalls had been set up throughout the piazza and up the main street giving away punnets of strawberries and every conceivable food one can imagine made from the fruit, from gateaux and ice-cream to crepes and risotto, and of course the Pizzo world famous tartufo, I must find out how often this festival is held.

Pizzo Marina.

At the end of the piazza is a beautiful sea view looking down into the bay while to your left is the castle. A walk down the steep streets to the harbour where an evening passeggiata is highly recommended can be rewarding, but remember that steep return climb.

The town’s Aragonese castle is open for a small admission fee and holds an important place in Italian history for it was here that the once king of Naples Joachim Murat was held captive and executed by firing squad. Murat the brother in law of Napoleon Bonaparte had tried to hold power in Italy after the downfall of Bonaparte. But after losing battles in the North of the country he sailed to Pizzo to try and enlist support for his cause where the locals who had not fared well under the French regime turned against him and handed him over to the troops of the new king of Naples Ferdinand IV.

The castle is well maintained but I’m not sure about the redundant shop mannequins dressed in costumes or the seemingly EBay acquired replica weapons, armour and art that have been installed to try and help tell the story of Murat, I think the less is more rule applies to this but that’s just one mans opinion.
From the castle, back through the piazza and an easy walk to the end of centro storico and the Church of San Francesco di Paola, not holding too much interest it is however the first building to be rebuilt by the towns people after the devastating earthquake of 1905 and a stone carved plaque of the event adorns the outside wall.

From this end of the town we take a short walk (about 15 minutes) down to the Piedigrotto church. This is a downward walk on a main road out of Pizzo, not busy but may be daunting to some as the road twists and turns and has no footpath, but again well worth the effort.

Piedigrotto church from the beach.

The church one of the most visited in Calabria is on the beach and carved into the sea facing cliffs, the life-size statues and reliefs that adorn the church have been carved from the existing rock as the cave and church have been hued deeper into the earth. Its origin as a holy place arose from legends of shipwrecked sailors in 1665 taking refuse in its earlier cave and placing a picture of the Virgin Mary there which they had rescued from the ship after it had allegedly promised them salvation.