Calabria

Appears in

Published 2005

About

This beautiful region, which forms the ‘toe’ of Italy, comprises mainly mountains that drop abruptly to white sandy beaches and the sea, together with some fertile plains - both low and high. There are plenty of cultivated citrus groves and vegetables, plus excellent wild fungi and chestnuts in the autumn. Chilli flavours meat and fish dishes, and an array of Mediterranean seafood is caught along the extensive coastline, to be enjoyed locally and abroad.

Calabria is the fore part of the Italian ‘boot’ with its capital, Reggio di Calabria, situated right at the ‘toecap’. The island of Sicily is a half-hour journey from here by traghetto or boat. Calabria’s only land border is with Basilicata, to the north; to the west and east are the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas respectively. Calabria is rich in history, having experienced invasions, with cultural influences through the ages by the Arabs, Greeks, French and Spaniards among others - much like Sicily and Puglia. We know the Greeks were here because Homer mentions Scylla and Charybdis, the opposing maritime hazards on the Strait of Messina, which separates Calabria and Sicily.