Gerace, the southern Byzantine

Gerace - Gerace is a town of about 2,500 inhabitants in the province of Reggio Calabria, 50 km north-west of the capital, less than 7 km from the Ionian coast, perched at 470 m. Above sea level on a sandstone cliff of the Serre, a hilly area at the foot of the Aspromonte. Although there are traces of Greek and Roman dwellings, the real village began to develop as a natural sighting and protection site from the 7th century with the arrival of the inhabitants of Locri Epizephiri, the current Locri, an ancient city of Magna Graecia that from the sea they moved towards the hill due to the coastal swamping and the danger of the continuous Saracen raids.

It was then a colony of Byzantines, Normans and Saracens, all ethnic groups that are reflected in the architectural variety of places and monuments located in an urban fabric with a predominantly medieval imprint. The inhabited one hundred is divided into three distinct agglomerations, the Center, which is the old part within the walls, and the Borgo Maggiore and the Borghetto, which developed outside the walls in a subsequent period. The Borgo Maggiore was once inhabited by the arrigagnari or potters, dedicated to the processing of terracotta, who still today produce artifacts of rare beauty using the techniques of the past and the weavers of refined loom work. In the upper part, the Center, there is the bishop's citadel with the attached Cathedral or Co-Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, datable after the ninth century, originally in Byzantine style but with subsequent renovations and additions that make the current architectural attribution difficult. inside which there is a system of catacombs. Among the other churches in the center, the Church of San Martino stands out, from the Byzantine period and style, in the vicinity of which there is a necropolis of the same period, the rupestrian church of San Nicola del Cofino, the oldest in the city, from the Byzantine period. paleochristian, with three naves, with a particular basket shape. Another important testimony is the Castle, dating back to the 7th century, of which only a few remains of walls and the tower overlooking the ravine of the fortress remain. Gerace is also beaches, developed for 70 km in the coastal part of the Ionian sea not far away, which constitute an additional tourist attraction to the historical, artistic and cultural one exercised by the inner village. Among the gastronomic specialties stand out the handmade buckwheat pasta with black pork meatballs ragù, wild fennel and pecorino, the cicerchie soup with dried tomatoes and chillies, the chickpea and bean soups with aromatic herbs, the 'nduja, a typical sausage with chilli, and orange marmalades, all accompanied by Nerino, a three-year aged barrique wine.