Calabria is a southern region of Italy located south of Naples at the bottom of Italian peninsula. In the north it is bounded by the Basilicata region, the region of Sicily in the southwest, the Ionian Sea to the east and to the west with the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area of the region is 15,080 square kilometer with a population of 2 million people. Catanzaro city is the capital of the region and Cosenza and Reggio Calabria are the two other main cities of the region.

Geography
The region of Calabria consists of a narrow peninsula which extends for 300 kilometers to the Mediterranean. It is situated between the Gulf of Tarranto and the Ionian Sea to the east and to the west with the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Strait of Messina separates Sicily from the region. The Calabria region is mainly mountainous with the three mountain regions being Pollino, Aspromonte and the Sila. Parts of the area of the Pollino Mountains are heavily wooded and the others are windswept and vast plateaus with little vegetation. La Sila consists of a vast mountainous structure of Aspromonte from the region’s southernmost tip. It consists of manmade terraces which are wide and slope down to the sea.

Religion
Most of the people of Calabria are Roman Catholic. The Albanian communities in the southern region have some Byzantine orthodox congregations. A small Italian Anusim community is present who have resumed their ancestors’ Jewish faith. Communities of Evangelists are also present on the western coast.

Attractions
The Reggio di Calabria museum has a fantastic collection of Roman sculptures and Greek artifacts. The famous exhibits of this museum consists of the Riace bronzes and the two Greek statues which have been recovered from the seabed. Tropea is the most appealing resort of the area which is a Baroque seaside town having great views. Scilla is the other interesting seaside resort of the region. Some of the interesting places in Cosenza include a Gothic cathedral, some Byzantine religious art and a castle. Catanzaro located at the middle of Italy’s narrowest point have attractions like a castle, cathedral, the archaeological park, the park of biodiversity and a promenade on the Ionian Sea. Capo Vaticano near Tropea is a wide and famous bathing place. There are several national parks present in the region which hikers and outdoor lovers will find interesting to visit. Calabria offers many pleasant overnight stops which include seaside towns between Sicily and Rome.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 10:37 am and is filed under Regions of Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.