TOURISM

IN
CALABRIA

If you're planning a trip through the South of Italy, our region offers
many pleasant overnight stops.
Calabria is not very well-known to foreign tourists but the area can
give you a glimpse of a very different Italy, as well as memories of
more illustrious times: over two thousand years ago, Calabria was
part of Magna Graecia, the site of rich and powerful Greek colonies.
The region is mountainous and full of remote villages.
Its larger towns are mostly modern and unappealing, but the smaller
ones and villages have a lot of historic charm.
Among the region remaining curiosities there are the Greek-speaking
villages, and an Albanian community dating back five hundred years.
It's the seaside that attracts most of Calabria's summer visitors
nowadays: the region has 780km of coast, facing onto two seas, the
Tyrrhenian and the Ionian.
Temperatures in the summer are very hot, although the mountains

Our tourism is divided into

five categories:

SEASIDE

MOUNTAINOUS

RELIGIOUS

CULTURAL

GASTRONOMIC

Mountains:

Aspromonte
National Park

Sila National
Park

Cocuzzo mountain

Serre Regional
Natural Park

Pollino National
Park

Sila and
Cocuzzo

Cosenza is sourronded by two chains:

Sila and the Serre Cosentine.
Sila National Park , the greatest in Italy
for its wooded surface, offers
marvellous sceneries, clean air and so
much nature to enjoy.
Its symbol is the wolf, a protect specie
that hopefully has been reintegrated in
its habitat after a long time. This
suggestive and wild plateau with
unique places is divided into Sila
Greca, Sila Grande, Sila Piccola with
150.000 hectares.
Tourists can enjoy very kind of sports,
from horse riding to ski.

Cocuzzo, with its 1541 meters, a

few kilometers far from Cerisano,
it is one of the highest peaks of the
Coast Range.
It is said that it is an extinct volcano
because of its shape.
Its a destination for excursions
especially loved by the young and
motocrossers.
Facing to the Aeolian Islands, in the
limpid days, it offers a spectacular
view.

SEASIDE

The Achaei Coast

The Jasmine Coast

The Saracens Coast

The Oranges Coast

The Gods Coast

The Violet Coast

The Cedars Coast

T he

Achaei and the Cedar Coast

In the province of Cosenza, the wonderful

Ionian coast takes its name by the
ancient Greek colonizers.
Situated in the north- eastern zone it
offers to tourists not only crystalline
waters but also a rich archeological
inland.
Corigliano and its Castle, Rossano with its
Abbey, the archeological area of Sibarys
give the opportunity to combine sea and
culture.
On the Tyrrhenian, near Cosenza , the
names coast derives from the
cultivation of the cedar , a particular
and very appreciated variety of citrus.
This coast is very crowded in summer
because of the mass tourism and the
commuting due to the closely to
Cosenza. Unfortunately tourism has
affected the quality of environment.

Religious touristic destinations

Santuary of San
Francesco of Paola

Sanctuary of the
Madonna of Polsi

Church of Serra San Bruno

Sanctuary of Natuzza

The Varia of Palmi

Spiritual paths
The most important destination for
religious tourism is the sanctuary of
Saint Francis of Paola not far from
Cosenza that attracts thousands of
pilgrims every year. He is very famous
all over the world and particularly
revered here as patron saint of
fishermen, protecting them from the
dangers.

The famous Charterhouse of Serra San Bruno is

visited by lots of pilgrims in all seasons even
tough you need a special permission to accede.
Among the most important visitors we can find
the popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI and
Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of Belgium

Cultural paths
Calabria is a land with a rich history and ancient traditions.

Known and appreciated for its beaches and for its

breathtaking natural scenery, this region hides the real
pearls, often little known and therefore excluded from the
most superficial tourist routes.
One of these pearls is the so-called Catholic of Stilo, in the
province of Reggio Calabria. Not many people are aware but
the whole Calabria has faced the conquest of Constantinople
(Byzantium). The Cattolica di Stilo, alongside other Calabrian
sites, is one of the most fascinating and interesting
testimonies of this blending of culture and art. It is a small
church in central square plant in Olomouc-Byzantine style
and it is candidate to join the list of the UNESCO World
Heritage.
Other Byzantine-era religious sites survive in Calabria at
Santa Maria del Pathirion in Rossano and San Giovanni Teresti
in Bivongi
In the National Museum of Reggio Calabria, our most famous
symbols: the Bronzes, uncovered in 1972 in the Ionian sea
attract every day a lot of tourists. They weigh 400 kg and
are high 1,98 meters.

Gastronomic festivals
One of Italy's pleasures is its food and drink
which varies significantly according to the
region.
Calabrian food bears the marks of a historical
Greek influence in its wide use of aubergines
and swordfish for main courses supplemented
with honey, almonds and figs in dessert. The
area's most distinctive ingredient is spicy chili
peppers, or peperoncini in Italian, which find
their way into pasta dishes, cured sausages and
soups. Calabria produces both red and white
wine; look out for bottles of Cir, Savuto, and
Greco di Bianco, a sweet white wine. Many
tourists follow some particular routes, which
combine cuisine, art and nature.
Every village has its own gastronomic festival,
mostly related with religious events, which
attracts many tourists especially in the summer.

Cosenza: the medieval

charm

Cosenza is still undervalued: it is one of the richest provinces in history,

charm and traditions in the southern Mediterranean. Indomitable and
proud capital of the Bretti, on seven hills, at the confluence of two
rivers, Cosenza still retains precious vestiges of its illustrious Greek and
Roman past.
In its medieval center some architectural gems like the Cathedral , the
Norman-Swabian castle, the Telesian Academy and many others
enlighten the magnificent scenery of a city that preserves and defends its
cultural and historical centrality despite its geographic periphery .
An art collector Carlo Bilotti gave to Cosenza some precious sculptures of
contemporary artists that embellish Corso Mazzini, the heart of the city.
Despite that, Cosenza has not yet had the tourism development it
deserves.
It needs a convinced redefinition of its identity and more initiatives able
to impose its image to the attention of major media, to promote and
realize the increasing of tourist accommodations.
Unfortunately our region is poor and lacks funding for tourism
development, which, in our opinion, should be, instead, the springboard of
Calabria whose launch passes from the exploitation of its artistic and
cultural heritage.

Industry
Agricultur
e There
are
cultivated
citrus and
olives.

Thanks For Watching

Created by:
Pasquale Dodaro
Monika Borowska
Ola Daukszewicz
Wiktoria Arciszewska
Candida Natario