Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CALABRIA
Tell a non-Calabrian Italian that you're going to Calabria and you will probably elicit some
surprise, inevitably followed by stories of the 'ndrangheta - the Calabrian Mafia - notori-
ous for smuggling and kidnapping wealthy northerners and keeping them hidden in the
mountains.
But Calabria contains startling natural beauty and spectacular towns that seem to grow
out of the craggy mountaintops. It has three national parks: the Pollino in the north, the Sila
in the centre and the Aspromonte in the south. It's around 90% hills, but skirted by some
780km of Italy's finest coast (ignore the bits devoured by unappealing holiday camps). Ber-
gamot grows here, and it's the only place in the world where the plants are of sufficient
quality to produce the essential oil used in many perfumes and to flavour Earl Grey tea. As
in Puglia, there are hundreds of music and food festivals here year-round, reaching a fever
pitch in July and August.
Admittedly, you sometimes feel as if you have stepped into a 1970s postcard, as its
towns, destroyed by repeated earthquakes, are often surrounded by brutal breeze-block sub-
urbs. The region has suffered from the unhealthy combination of European and government
subsidies (aimed to develop the south) and dark Mafia opportunism. Half-finished houses
often mask well-furnished flats where families live happily, untroubled by invasive house
taxes.
This is where to head for an adventure into the unknown.
