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- Palmi
- Seminara
- Melicuccŕ
- Acquaro di Cosoleto
- Delianova
- Sant'Eufemia d’Aspromonte
Costa Viola, part of a litoral that extends till Villa S.
Giovanni is so called for the purplish colour of the sea. It begins
in Palmi, modern town with big squares and large roads placed
on a terrace that looks out onto the sea, on the north-west end of
Aspromonte domained by Sant’Elia’s mountain. The first informations
go back to 1310, but it’s probable origins go back to the X century.
The area is particularly beautiful thanks to the various and rich
vegetation, it is important to mention its luxurious palms, the
orange gardens, its strangely shaped olive trees. A must visit in
town is the Casa della Cultura “Leonida Rčpaci”, centre of cultural
meetings not just for the town, but for all around Calabria and
more. In it we find the rooms of the public library “Domenico Topa”,
rich with volumes and works about Calabria and the South of Italy;
the municipal museum of ethnography and folklore “Raffaele Corso”
opened in 1955 and named after the famous student of folklore and
ethnologist R.Corso of Nicotera (1883-1965), in which there is an
ample and important choice of traditional calabrian objects; the
municipal museum “Francesco Cilea e N.A. Manfroce” opened in 1962
that keeps the musical library of the palmese Francesco Cilea
(1866-1950); the section dedicated to the Antiquarium “Nicola de
Rose” that contains materials from Taureana that can go back to a
chronological time between the VII B.C.and the XI A.C. To point out
around the Pietrenere remains of the Torre delle Pietre Nere also
the Chiesa Madre, the Chiesa del Soccorso, the Chiesa del Rosario,
the Madonna del Carmine’s Sanctuary. In S.Fantino area we have the
Torre di S. Francesco, the Monumento a Cilea, the Tauriana castle
with its still strong remains around the Torre di Vedetta. A few km
away from the town there is the Lido di Palmi that, placed at the
centre of a beautiful creek of fine sand and surrounded by evocative
cliffs, it’s home for well served camping sites, modern hotels and
fine restaurants.
3km away from Palmi there is Seminara, town that was
founded, in the opinion of many scholars, between the seventh and
eight century by the close Tauriana. Crossed by the via Popilia (the
great road that in Roman times used to link Rome to Reggio
Calabria), the town controlled a vast territory through which the
army had to pass to get to Sicily. This is why in time was
surrounded by strong town walls with four turreted doors and a
fortified castle. The big number of churches and convents inside and
outside the walls is the proof of a strong religious faith and
ecclesiastical power that used to rule most of the public life. In
the centre of the town there is the Madonna dei Poveri’s Sanctuary
that guards the Sacra Immagine della Madonna, destination and cult
of many populations of Calabria and Scilla. The opera, representing
the Madonna with Baby Jesus, is a very ancient black wooden statue
(“Nigra sed formosa”), just above 90 centimetres, of eastern
manifactury and brought to Tauriana by Basilean monks come to our
shores the Emperor Leone the Isaurico, in the VIII century, ordered
the destruction of all the sacred images. Another site of interest
is the church of San Marco which keeps a marble altar-piece
representing the Epiphany and that presents itself like one of the
most precious and significant products of the Renaissance period.
Left Seminara and proceeding on the SS112 for 6 km going south,
there is Melicuccŕ. The village, that is placed on a slope
and overlooks a landscape full of olive trees, seems to be of
byzantine origin. Its building goes back to the 650 A.C. and its
original name, Grecěa, was kept till 1700, year in which it its
actual name that probably comes from a greek plant, the “melicoccon”,
was assigned. Just 12 km away from Melicuccŕ, following the SS 112
and passing through the centre of San Procopio, ( in which church of
Rosario is possible to admire the marble statue of the Madonna with
the Baby of 1532), there is Acquaro di Cosoleto, that ows its
fame to San Rocco’s Sanctuary. Here is kept an image of the saint
that is believed to be miraculous and it’s site of many pilgrimages.
Following the SS112 there is Delianova, also called the
“porta dell’Aspromonte”. This area is built on the high valley of
the Diverso torrent, and it projects itself over the vast expanse of
olives of the Piana di Gioia Tauro. In its historical centre there
are various noble villas, which are characterised by monumental
portals made out of green stone that testify the great skills of the
sculptores of the area. The parish church of Delianova, dedicated to
San Nicola, keeps an interesting statue that goes back to the XVI
century and represents the Madonna della Visitazione and an
alabaster marble column of the XIV century. The church of the
Assunta, built in neo-renaissance style, holds a marble statue of
the Immacolata of the end of the XVIII century, a wooden sculpture
representing San Giuseppe and a canvas representing the Assunzione,
also from the XVIII century. Left Delianova, still following the
main road for about 7 km, we get to Sant’Eufenia d’Aspromonte,
active little town surrounded by deep chestnut-tree forests. To
strenghten the theory of an ancient origin of this town there are
many archeological finds that have been descovered on its territory:
bronze coins of Roman time, amphorae, various objects and also a
silica knife.
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