Amazing mountain

We will discover the beauty of some of the towns in the hinterland of the province of Reggio Calabria: Pentedattilo, with its myths and its mountain (whence the name) where it lays down, a ghost town, which seems to be come out from a set of “The Lord of the Rings”, Roghudi, with its impressive legends and Bova, the cradle of the Griko culture.

The sandstone, that stands above the town of Pentedattilo (from the Greek Penta + Daktylos meaning five fingers), has deformed its appearance due to the repeated eartquakes, many centuries ago had a shape of a hand. Since the antiquity it had inspired many painters, writers and other artists, like Escher, E. Lear. R. Englund. For many years the town remained totally uninhabited, when some associations started a recovery of the town through focused activities. We leave our vehicle just outside the village, hiking over the road we visit the church of Saints Peter and Paul, and we try to distinguish the ruins of the castle, scene of the massacre of the Albertis during the 17th century.

We move towards Roghudi, and other ghost town that as a consequence of several floods its villagers were obliged to abandon their home to safer places. It is a town full of mystery due to two rocks wrapped in a mystery: the Dragon Rock and the Milk Boilers: the first was the abode of a dragon always hungry and the second by their shape recalled some big milk vats.

Along the way we stop to visit a cultivation of bergamots and taste the products of this piece of land, having lunch in an agritourism.

Next stop is Bova, capital of the Griko culture in Calabria, to know its language and traditions recovered thanks to the will of some researchers. We walk along the roads of the town and visit Palace Nesci Sant’Agata, an astonishing example of the architecture of Neoclassicism and Palace Mesiani Mezzacuva, it was built on the ruins of a tower of the 15th century, where during last years many exhibitions and meetings were hosted. We walk up towards the Cathedral and then to the Castle, laid on the rock where it dominated the town and the Amendolea valley.

Heading back to coast, we go to the vineyard Nesci in Palizzi, we visit the olive grove, the winery and where the wine is produced. Before going back to Reggio Calabria we taste wines produced from a locally grown grape and typical local products.

We will discover the beauties of the hinterland of the province of Reggio Calabria, which had inspired E. Lear and Escher. We will abandon ourselves to the discovery of typical flavours of this province, as the bergamot and some other typical products. We will finish the tour with a tasting in a winery.