Calabria: Italy’s ancient land between the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas

In this video, we travel to beautiful Calabria, a region of southwest Italy, occupying the “toe” of the country’s boot-shaped peninsula, and separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina.

A sun-baked region of rugged mountains, old-fashioned villages and several, justifiably popular beaches, Calabria’s ancient land between two seas – the Ionian and Tyrrhenian – also boasts three national parks, and a landscape of rolling hills lined with olive trees.

Once known as Magna Graecia for the Greek settlements on these shores thousands of years ago, the region’s former rulers include the Germans, French, Spanish, Turks, Austrians and Bourbons, all of whom have influenced Calabria’s architecture, dialect, customs and cuisine.

Speaking of cuisine, the trademark of Calabrian cuisine is ‘peperoncino’ – a spicy chilli pepper, used liberally in many dishes, and thought to ward off illness and misfortune.

Coastal Reggio Calabria, its largest city, is home to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and its Riace Bronzes – a famous representation of a pair of Greek warriors, dating back to the 5th century B.C.E.

If you should find yourself here, consider adding the following to your itinerary:

• Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria
• L’Ecomuseo del Pollino
• Museo Nazionale di Locri Epizephyrii
• Parco Nazionale dell’Aspromonte
• Santa Maria dell’Isola
• Capo Vaticano
• Parco Nazionale del Pollino
• Museo Archeologico Nazionale delle Sibaritide
• Santuario di San Francesco di Paola
• Chiesetta di Piedigrotta

View the original video here.

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