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Calabria |
Capital: Catanzaro
Major airports: Crotone (CRV), Lamezia Terme
(SUF). Reggio di Calabria (REG) |
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The toe of the Italian boot, Calabria has coasts on
both the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian seas and the
glorious Sila Massif - the tail end of the Apennine
Range - as its spine. While the province’s western
littoral is dotted with resort towns, its interior and
eastern coastline are wild and untouched. Here
forests with 100-foot sycamore trees frame simple,
sleepy villages where life still revolves around
harvests and festival seasons. At the edge of the
Massif the forest gives way to citrus and olive
groves, and finally to the vast stretches of fine,
sandy beaches fringing the sparkling sea.
Geography and history conspired for centuries to
isolate the deep south of Italy from economic
development and leave it poverty-stricken and
backwards. Over the past twenty or so years,
tourism and a drastically revamped wine industry
have brought a measure of prosperity to the region,
but for the most part it remains rugged and
unsophisticated, its villages ungentrified and its
historic sites uncrowded.
And yet here are some of Europe’s oldest cities,
colonial outposts of Greece such as Cumae,
founded in 750BC, Locri Epizephiri, Rhegium
(Reggio Calabria) and Crotone, the 6th century BC
headquarters of the Pythagorean philosophical
group. This evidently marked the high point of the
Greek presence, for by the 5th century BC the
Romans had moved into a region in decline. They
did nothing to reverse the trend and were
eventually replaced by the Byzantines, whose
presence is most strongly felt in their weathered
churches at Stilo and Rossano. The Normans came
next. In the 11th century, Calabria was annexed to
the Kingdom of Naples and in 1860, it joined Italy.
One of the more interesting products of Calabria is
bergamot, or citrus bergamia, which grows in
abundance only between Reggio di Calabria and
Scilla. The oil extracted from the plant is a key
ingredient in perfumes and scented beauty
products, and provides Earl Grey tea with its unique
flavour. |
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