BETWEEN MEMORY
HISTORICAL AND
REBIRTH
OF PLACES
Municipalities and local history
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Da qui puoi fare una visita virtuale dell'Aspromonte
FOCUS ON THE ASPROMONTE NATIONAL PARK
Where are we?
We are inside the complex also called the Southern Alps or the Calabrian Alps .
Geologically, the formation of the mountain massif precedes that of the Italian Apennines.
The territory of the Aspromonte National Park as we know it today was established in 1989 formalized by the Framework law on Protected Areas but was concretely implemented in January 1994.
It is the 6th park established in Italy.
The morphology of the territory is indented except for its summits. The shape is conical and finds its center in the Montalto , 1956 meters high. From the top of the valleys branch out crossed by the traditional rivers. Around Montalto there are Monte Basilicò , Monte Cannavi , Monte Scorda and Monte Antenna . The forest covers 50% of the Protected Area
The municipalities that make up the territory of the Park are 37 for a total extension of 64,153 hectares entirely included in the Metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria.
The Park territory takes its name from the Aspromonte Massif , which means candid, white and dates back to the Greek populations of the Ionian coast who admired the white mountain formations of the massif.
The flora is very rich and heterogeneous thanks to the not too high altitudes and the mitigation of the sea. The same goes for the fauna: there are many species of mammals here including the wolf, the wild boar, the wild cat, the fox, the beech marten, the badger, the weasel.
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The local history of the Calabrian municipalities is very complex and deserves some insights that you will find below.
BORGHI
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Sezione dedicata ai borghi
In questa sezione del sito troverete degli articoli specifici sul territorio scritti per la testata giornalistica Hermes Magazine con la quale collaboro da circa un anno, diretta da Alessia Giannino. Si tratta di piccole guide per scoprire sia i borghi della Locride e dell'area grecanica sia altri borghi calabresi.
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Ecco a voi le guide utili per visite in autonomia!
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Gerace
Locride candidata a capitale della cultura
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Periodo Autunnale: 5 Borghi da visitare in autunno in Calabria
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Tradizioni Culinarie: La tradizione del maiale
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Historical dates
Changes and signs of the time: destruction and reconstruction
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Historical dates
Buildings destroyed in the 1905/1908 earthquake
The municipalities of the southern Ionian coast, as we know them today, did not exist until a few decades ago. They have totally changed over the centuries.
The reasons for this change are often linked to natural disasters, especially earthquakes.
A watershed date is represented by the earthquake of 1783 which significantly changed the landscape and the livability of the area.
Many villages have been emptied and moved several kilometers away causing dismay and confusion in the inhabitants, mostly farmers and strongly attached to their land.
From this moment on the Calabrian characteristic of the "dual country" was born , divided between the historic village and the inhabited center on the coast.
It is estimated that out of 183 countries destroyed by the ferocity of the land movement, only 33 were rebuilt. The upheaval of the territory has caused serious consequences for the economic and social fabric, weighing on the situation of isolation of the internal countries and leading to depopulation . The psychological consequences of these devastations affected the inhabitants and their lifestyle. Those who cultivated the land had to change the way and type of crops. In part, the origin of emigration is linked to this "mobile" and fragile land.
To find out more: Vito Teti, Restless Earth. Rubbettino 2015
Other trade routes: the traditional pilgrimage to Bombile
Local culture
Travel, pilgrimages and religion
The religious journey in the contemporary imagination is automatically associated with a devotion to the Saint or the place where he is for strictly personal reasons.
The intimate view of religion focuses only on part of the theme as a whole.
In reality, the religious holiday brought with it an economic and social movement made up of exchanges of livestock, trade, the movement of entire families.
It favored the encounter between people from normally unreachable areas and the knowledge of another culture. It enriched the participants who walked it using streets called "ways of songs": real communication routes with shortcuts that gave back a new vision of the landscape and a different meaning to the place.
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In Locride there are several religious pilgrimage destinations that have fulfilled this function: the Madonna della Grotta di Bombile, the feast of the Saints of Riace, the Sanctuary of Polsi .
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The uniqueness of these events was manifested in every action carried out during the pilgrimage: from songs, to dances, to the consumption of immeasurable food.
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Unfortunately, some of these festivals have undergone changes over the years.
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Among these, the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Grotta is unfortunately currently no longer accessible due to a landslide that completely destroyed the church in 2004.