82 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM
SUSAN WRIGHT (DISH), JBM/VISUM CREATIVE/REDUX (VESPA); PREVIOUS PAGES: MICHELE BORZONI (BEACH)I’m excited to see Cattolica di Stilo. The earliest Byzantine
structure in Calabria was built by hermits who lived in the hills.
The little church is so small it seems like a model for something
much bigger. Looking at the four brick cupolas around a larger
one, I wish for paper, colored pencils, and a rudimentary sense
of perspective. The roofs are made of bricks rippled like crimped
pie crusts. Inside, a miniature Greek–cross plan with jagged
fragments of frescoes, some writing, and four spolia (repurposed
from another site) columns. Asphodels spring up all around.
Stilo is otherwise closed, its dozens of monuments and churchesof paired Rosaneti rosé, a local, lively spumante. Every morsel
that follows is carefully crafted—ravioli with truffles; tortelli
filled with ricotta, almonds, and mackerel; pigeon with plums.
What a talented young chef, with big intentions. He wants to
know what we didn’t like. We loved everything.
Back we go, back into the inky dark to Great Aunt Maria’s
guest room, with its dim lights and dip in the bed. At breakfast,
the owner reminisces about her own travels in Calabria. “Go to
Sila National Park. Go inland,” she insists. Like many coastal
dwellers, she loves the mountains. As we leave, she brings us a
jar of her blackberry jam.
The Ionian coast offers a series of beach towns: Soverato,
Sant’Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio, Isca sullo Ionio, Riace, Siderno,
on and on. Though generally not attractive towns—lots of con-
crete—they have weekly markets; pastry, cheese, and pasta
shops; good butchers; and palm-lined walks where people stroll
in the evening, pausing at beach bars and gelato stands.
We stop at Monasterace, where our agriturismo is situated
above a lighthouse. It’s new and furnished serenely in white.
A grassy bluff looks out to the horizon, and below us lie the
stony remains of Kaulon, a notable Greek ruin. In the Museo
Archeologico dell’Antica Kaulon, we get to see a large sea dragon
mosaic pulled off the floor of a long-lost dining room. And from
this base we head to the inland towns of Stilo and Gerace.THESE GENEROUS
GIFTS! ALL OVER
CALABRIA, WE’VE
BEEN GIVEN
SAUCES, PASTAS,
JAMS, HONEY.
82 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM
SUSAN WRIGHT (DISH), JBM/VISUM CREATIVE/REDUX (VESPA); PREVIOUS PAGES: MICHELE BORZONI (BEACH)I’m excited to see Cattolica di Stilo. The earliest Byzantine
structure in Calabria was built by hermits who lived in the hills.
The little church is so small it seems like a model for something
much bigger. Looking at the four brick cupolas around a larger
one, I wish for paper, colored pencils, and a rudimentary sense
of perspective. The roofs are made of bricks rippled like crimped
pie crusts. Inside, a miniature Greek–cross plan with jagged
fragments of frescoes, some writing, and four spolia (repurposed
from another site) columns. Asphodels spring up all around.
Stilo is otherwise closed, its dozens of monuments and churchesof paired Rosaneti rosé, a local, lively spumante. Every morsel
that follows is carefully crafted—ravioli with truffles; tortelli
filled with ricotta, almonds, and mackerel; pigeon with plums.
What a talented young chef, with big intentions. He wants to
know what we didn’t like. We loved everything.
Back we go, back into the inky dark to Great Aunt Maria’s
guest room, with its dim lights and dip in the bed. At breakfast,
the owner reminisces about her own travels in Calabria. “Go to
Sila National Park. Go inland,” she insists. Like many coastal
dwellers, she loves the mountains. As we leave, she brings us a
jar of her blackberry jam.
The Ionian coast offers a series of beach towns: Soverato,
Sant’Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio, Isca sullo Ionio, Riace, Siderno,
on and on. Though generally not attractive towns—lots of con-
crete—they have weekly markets; pastry, cheese, and pasta
shops; good butchers; and palm-lined walks where people stroll
in the evening, pausing at beach bars and gelato stands.
We stop at Monasterace, where our agriturismo is situated
above a lighthouse. It’s new and furnished serenely in white.
A grassy bluff looks out to the horizon, and below us lie the
stony remains of Kaulon, a notable Greek ruin. In the Museo
Archeologico dell’Antica Kaulon, we get to see a large sea dragon
mosaic pulled off the floor of a long-lost dining room. And from
this base we head to the inland towns of Stilo and Gerace.
THESE GENEROUS
GIFTS! ALL OVER
CALABRIA, WE’VE
BEEN GIVEN
SAUCES, PASTAS,
JAMS, HONEY.