Calabria - A Mountainous Region

Across the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest strip of sea between Sicily and the mainland is only 3.2km/2 miles wide, lies the region of Calabria. Two deep furrows running east to west divide the landscape into three mountainous sections. This natural formation tends to isolate the towns and cities from each other.

The Pollino Mountains in the north of the region form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Some parts are heavily wooded, while others are windswept plateaux with little vegetation or agriculture. La Sila, in the middle, is a vast mountainous plateau about 1,200m/4,000ft above sea level, which boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests, and is famous for the production of cheeses. The southern Aspromonte range overlooks the Straits of Messina. The rare bergamot, a lemony-yellow fruit used in perfumes and to flavour Earl Grey tea, flourishes here, but agriculture in Calabria is mainly limited to the level areas near the coast, where citrus fruits, vegetables, vines and olives grow profusely, and tender, valuable crops such as sugar beet, tobacco, flowers and oranges abound, as well as fig and almond trees. Sheep farming, though very traditional all over this region, is sadly in decline.