Kalavrìa: the ghost villages of Calabria

Welcome greetings 

We meet at the established place, welcome greetings and briefing. Dinner and overnight stay.

Monte Grosso

In the morning we leave for the village of Bova, recognized as the capital of the Greek-Calabra area. The village, located above the great Amendolea river, is important for cultural and gastronomic reasons. From here we reach the Zita pass from which we can admire the Colella landslide. Shortly after we reach the most panoramic point of the area from which we can admire the Amendolea River and the ghost village of Old Roghudi. Return, dinner and overnight.

Africo Vecchio – Casalinuovo

This excursion focuses not only on the wonders of Calabrian nature, but is also the visit of a village abandoned since 1951, when a flood forces the inhabitants to abandon it. We see the village of Carrà, a set of social housing reserved for shepherds, and the village of Africo antico, the most isolated village in Aspromonte. In old Africo there wasn’t a single road and there flew six hours on foot to reach the nearest village, Bova, stocked with basic necessities. From Old Africo we descend in the direction of the river and thanks to a metal bridge we arrive in Casalinuovo where the grandchildren of the people who have abandoned Africo in the past. Return, dinner and overnight stay.

From Ghorio to Pesdavoli

This excursion includes the wilderness part of aspromonte and the part of the abandoned villages. Millenquent rocks and pine and chestnut woods. It starts from the center of Ghorio, a hamlet of Roghudi Vecchio, one of the most evocative villages of Aspromonte thanks to the “great white”, a terrifying overhang on the Amendolea river.  We follow the paths traced by sheep that are numerous in this area. Through fields of ferns, rocky ridges deriving from past landslides and small woods, we arrive at our destination: Pesdavoli. The presence of a large lawn and a source of water make Pesdavoli the perfect place to eat together and relax. Return dinner and overnight.

from Bova to Amendolea

Check-out and departure for the last stage. The mystery of its uncertain origins, the charm of the ruins that defy time in the warm light of sunset, the stories of its inhabitants: the castle of the Ruffo family of Amendolea is capable of giving many contrasting emotions. Let’s leave Bova and take a path that goes downstream and leads us near one of the tributaries of the Amendolea river and, a little higher up, the mysterious and fascinating castle within whose walls you can walk admiring some of the few structures still intact and what remains of others.