Tarsia, land of caves and legends

Tarsia - Tarsia is a Calabrian village, in the province of Cosenza; rises 208 meters above sea level and has 2,000 inhabitants. Village of Norman origins, it is renowned for its artificial caves and for the legends about it. The many caves that surround it were used as a shelter for animals and are the protagonists of the legend written by Vincenzo Padula, together with the hen: a hen with twelve chicks all golden, a clear reference to the Lombard tradition, was hidden in the cave of San Giuseppe and guarded by a dragon who, before letting her out, checked for threats, followed and protected her.

Another famous legend wants the existence of an underground entrance that leads to thirty underground caves. Many attempts have been made, all in vain, to trace this opening, probably swallowed up by landslides. Tarsia is also famous for the presence of the Ferramonti concentration camp, where 2,000 people converged, coming from the Bulgarian ship Pentcho, which left Bratislava with destination Palestine, but after many misadventures, it was wrecked and saved by an Italian ship. The castaways were then transferred to the Ferramonti camp, but no one died, they were all saved by the Italians, unlike many others more unfortunate.