Pizzo Calabro

Pizzo Calabro - where

Pizzo Calabro is one of the most renowned town of the Vibo Valentia province, a wonderful village on the coast, on a promontory in the center of St. Eufemia Gulf.

Pizzo Calabro is a well known seaside resort and, at the same time, a remarkable fishing center. Today it is a famous touristic resort, which is famous for its splendid coast and its mild climate. Pizzo has also got many commercial activities with a touristic trend.

If you want to reach it by car from the North of Italy you have to take the A1 Milano-Napoli motorway, then drive on along the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway, as far as the junction to Pizzo Calabro.

If you prefer to travel by train, there are two stations that allow you to arrive in Pizzo Calabro: Lamezia Terme Station and Vibo Valentia-Pizzo Station.

The nearest airport is Lamezia Terme, which is about 10 km from the center of Pizzo Calabro.

Pizzo Calabro - history

According to the tradition, Pizzo Calabro was born on the ruins of Napitia, a colony that had been founded by some Focesi. Pizzo Calabro was destroyed in the fourth century A.D. by a Saracen attack, but the survived inhabitants built it again at the beginning of the tenth century.

In 1363 the development of the village of Pizzo Calabro began thanks to some Basilian monks who built a monastery in this zone, while a group of coral pickers from Amalfi built The Graces Church at the same time, which later became the Carmelitan Church.

In this way, the active commercial center Pizzo began to develop and its beauty is still evident today.
Among its artisan activities we want to point out a shipyard for the building of boats and barges with ancient tecniques and ceramics, which is another still flourishing activity.

Pizzo Calabro is also a thriving seaside center, where the tuna-fish preservation industry has developed quite well. This village is also particularly renowned for the production of the rare “Zibibbo” grapes.

Pizzo Calabro - art

The Pizzo Calabro village center offers some picturesque medieval perspectives, together with some exclusive villas belonging to different periods of time.

We definitely recommend you to visit the Piedigrotta Church, which is dug into tufa and the San Giorgio Martire Church.

This is a Baroque church that preserves some valuable sculptural works inside.

Moreover, we advice you to visit the Pizzo Castle, that was commissioned by Ferdinand I of Aragon in 1400 and became famous because Gioacchino Murat was imprisoned here.

Today the Pizzo Castle castle has been declared a national monument.

Courtesy of Italian Language Schools IT-SCHOOLS.COM