CALABRIA – FROM THE POLLINO NATIONAL PARK TO THE COAST OF THE ACHEI – Arbëreshe culture and gastronomic traditions.

Arriving in Lamezia, transfer to Morano Calabro, among the most fascinating historic centers in all of Calabria.Before entering the town, it is worthwhile, near the Villa Comunale, to enter the late-Gothic church of San Bernardino da Siena, a rare example of 15th-century monastic architecture in Calabria (it was to the monastery of San Bernardino that the beautiful gardens now in the Villa Comunale belonged, mentioned as early as in 17th-century texts). From the Church of San Bernardino one then quickly ascends to Piazza Giovanni XXIII, also in the lower part of the town. In the square, next to the Town Hall, stands the Collegiata della Maddalena, one of the grandest baroque churches in Calabria. Morano not only appears from afar to be a crib town, but it really is, and to get to know it we need to immerse ourselves in its somewhat magical atmosphere, threading our way through the maze of narrow streets, winding and steeply sloping, partly dug out of the rock, that thread their way through a compact fabric of houses, churches, monasteries, arches, portals, underpasses, stairways, and small squares. At the top we’ll find the ruins of the Norman-Swabian Castle, an important, three-story, square-plan fortress with six cylindrical towers, surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge.
Transfer to Civita, settle in reserved rooms, have dinner in a local restaurant and stay overnight.

Awakening immersed in nature, Civita, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Founded in 1471 by groups of Albanians fleeing the Turks, and built on the ruins of the castrum Sancti Salvatoris. Breakfast and meet with the guide and for an Urban Trekking of the village, visit the “Kodra” houses, seven dwellings distinguished by the curious morphology that reproduces human faces. Descend more than 600 steps to Devil’s Bridge, in a rocky landscape of unspoiled beauty: a canyon with the longest gorges in Italy and a rock face that looks like a theatrical backdrop. Free lunch on the excursion. In the afternoon visit to the first and only naturalistic falconry center in Calabria, the “Falconers of the Seven Winds” will allow you to live an interactive educational experience that will bring you closer to the world of birds of prey in a place rich in vegetation and rare and interesting fauna. Not only hawks but also buzzards, barn owls, eagle owls and the marvelous golden eagle that we will also be able to touch with the help of experienced masters. Not just a show then, but the very essence of the rare species in the Pollino Park, which you will be able to observe in their original environment and, with a bit of luck, see in action… Typical dinner in a local restaurant and overnight stay in a hotel.

Breakfast i hotel, pasta-making workshop and at the end we will say goodbye to Civita and transfer to Cerchiara. Visit the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Armi, among the most valuable monumental complexes, of medieval origin, in Calabria. It is located on the slopes of Mount Sellaro at 1015 m above sea level with extraordinary views of the Sibari plain and the Gulf of Taranto. Lunch at a local restaurant and transfer to Corigliano. Visit to the Ducal Castle.The earliest records of the presence in Corigliano of a fortified outpost date back to the 11th century. It was in fact the Normans who, in their campaigns of conquest of Calabria and Sicily, in moving along the valley of the Crati River, had to think of building a primitive stronghold, in defense of the perched village of Corigliano and in control of the plain of Sibari below. In the historical cycle of the Corigliano Castle there are several dominations, pillages and restorations, but we will get to know them all. Transfer to hotel, accommodation in reserved rooms, dinner in a typical restaurant and overnight stay.

Early in the morning an authentic experience with shepherds awaits us. There are places where time has stood still, we will meet a shepherd who has dedicated his life to his relationship with nature and his animals, learn about the process of making and processing cheese … and have breakfast with “mpanata.” In the homes, among the mountains and countryside of Calabria, the shepherds who live following the flocks are the repositories of ancient traditions and every morning, after grazing and milking goats and sheep, they recreate the magic of “mpanata.” It was the typical dish of the sheepherders, which they consumed before ‘mmiàre, that is, starting the flock to graze. Lunch in a typical restaurant, visit to the “Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art and the Codex,” the Codex has been recognized as a World Heritage Site and included in the Unesco lists, then we will visit the Cathedral of Maria Santissima Achiropita, erected in the 11th century on an earlier Byzantine building. Dinner in a typical restaurant and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the “Pathirion,” a Basilian Monastic Complex of Santa Maria del Patire, an early 12th-century Byzantine-Norman building. Then trekking through paths and mule tracks in the heart of the Greek Sila, we will find ourselves immersed in a forest among giant chestnut trees more than 700 years old, the Giants of Cozzo del Pesco. These are 102 monumental chestnut trees, so large that some have a circumference at the base of about 12 meters, some of them with hollow trunks within which several people can fit. Lunch in a restaurant, return to hotel. Free afternoon. Dinner in a typical restaurant. Guided tour of the Amarelli factory and museum, a story within a story, a saga, that of the Amarelli family, which began around the year 1000 and continued over the centuries among Crusades, intellectual engagement and agriculture. A story to touch, to read, to listen to, to experience in the “Giorgio Amarelli” Licorice Museum. The evening visit to the Museum is aimed at those who choose a more immersive experience, an in-depth tour of the Museum in which it will be possible to spend an unforgettable evening immersed
in the evocative nighttime setting of the Liquorice Museum, the profile of the fifteenth-century plantation mansion and the small church dating back to the first half of the nineteenth century. At the end there will be a tasting of a selection of products inside the Factory Store. Return to the hotel and overnight stay.

Upon awakening breakfast at the hotel and on to Sibari, where we will visit the archaeological park of Sibari, this is the site of one of the richest and most important Greek cities of Magna Graecia. After the visit we will continue to Lamezia Terme.
End of our services.