fiogf49gjkf0d ISOLA CAPO RIZZUTO
THE ISOLA DI CAPO RIZZUTO IS A FAMOUS TOURIST
RESORT ON THE IONIAN COAST IN THE PROVINCE OF
CROTONE THAT STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
PROMONTORY OF THE SAME NAME ON A HILL THAT SLOPES
GENTLY DOWN TO THE SEA.
THE VILLAGE, NOT FAR FROM THE SEA IN ANCIENT
TIMES, WAS FOUNDED BY THE IAPIGI AROUND 1200 BC
AND BECAME IMPORTANT ONLY IN BYZANTINE TIMES.
THE VILLAGE, IMPORTANT FOR THE DIFFUSION OF THE
CATHOLIC RELIGION IN SOUTHERN ITALY, IN THE
MIDDLE AGES WAS THE FEUD OF VARIOUS NOBLE
FAMILIES.
THE MIGHTY DEFENSIVE SYSTEM DATES BACK TO THIS
PERIOD, INCLUDING THE CASTLE OF THE RICCA FAMILY,
THE IMPOSING WALLS, MANY COASTAL WATCHTOWERS AND
THE HOLY BUILDINGS SUCH AS ST. MARK*S CHURCH,
STANDING IN THE OLD PART OF THE VILLAGE.
THE OBJECT OF TURKISH AND SARACEN INVASIONS, BUT
ALSO OF SPANISH AND ARAGONESE ATTACKS, ISOLA DI
CAPO RIZZUTO WAS A BISHOPRIC UNTIL 1818.
NOWADAYS IT IS AN IMPORTANT FARMING CENTER, NOTED
FOR ITS EARLY PRODUCE, VEGETABLES AND OLIVE OIL.
MOREOVER, SINCE 1970, THANKS TO MODERN
ACCOMMODATIONS AND THE APPRECIATION OF ITS
NATURAL BEAUTY, ISOLA DI CAPO RIZZUTO, AND LE
CASTELLA ITS WARD, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST
NOTED AND VISITED SEASIDE RESORTS IN THE WHOLE
REGION.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED ABOUT 19 KM FROM CROTONE.
CROTONE, CAPITAL OF THE PROVINCE SET UP IN 1992,
IS AN IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL, COMMERCIAL AND
INDUSTRIAL CENTER OF CALABRIA.
LYING ON A SPLENDID PROMONTORY ON ONE OF THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL STRETCHES OF THE IONIAN COAST, IT IS
THE HEIR OF KROTON, ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS
COLONIES OF THE MAGNA GRAECIA, FOUNDED AROUND 710
BC.
KROTON WAS FAMOUS IN ANCIENT TIMES FOR ITS
HEALTHY CLIMATE, THE FERTILITY OF ITS LAND AND
THE SKILL OF ITS ATHLETES, WINNERS OF MANY
OLYMPIC GAMES.
FAMOUS FOR HAVING GIVEN HOME TO THE PHILOSOPHER
PYTHAGORAS AND THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF ALCMEONE AND
DEMOCEDE, KROTON MANAGED TO EXPUNGE ITS RIVAL
SIBARI, THUS ACHIEVING HEGEMONY OF THE MAGNA
GRAECIA.
THE OLD TOWN IS VERY CHARMING WITH ITS NARROW
LANES, MAGNIFICENT HOLY BUILDINGS AND ITS FINE
ARISTOCRATIC HOMES, THAT TESTIFY TO A PAST SOAKED
IN HISTORY.
IN PARTICULAR, THE CATHEDRAL AND THE CHURCH OF
ST. CLARE WITH ITS CONVENT ANNEXE, BUILT IN THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY, SHOULD BE MENTIONED.
CROTONE IS AN IMPORTANT BATHING RESORT, EQUIPPED
WITH MODERN AND EFFICIENT BUILDINGS, AS WELL AS
BEING THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL PORT ON THE
CALABRIAN IONIAN COAST.
ITS COOKERY IS VERY TASTY, TYPIFIED BY SPICY
FLAVORS AND THE USE OF EXQUISITE LOCAL PRODUCTS
EXCELLENT PRESSED PORK MEATS AND CHEESES, GRAPES
AND WINE, FAMOUS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
SANCTUARY TO HERA LACINIA
ABOUT A KILOMETER FROM CROTONE STANDS THE
SANCTUARY TO HERA LACINIA, THE MOST IMPORTANT
PLACE OF WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT GREEK CITY STATE.
THE TEMPLE, THAT ENJOYED ITS GREATEST SPLENDOR IN
THE FIFTH CENTURY BC, WHEN IT BECAME THE
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ITALIOTA LEAGUE, WAS SACKED
BY THE SYRACUSE TYRANT DIONYSUS AND, AFTERWARDS,
BY THE ROMANS.
FINALLY, IT WAS USED AS A QUARRY FOR CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS FOR OTHER BUILDINGS.
THE FIRST EXCAVATIONS CONDUCTED BY PAOLO ORSI,
DATE BACK TO 1910.
THE 1987-89 CAMPAIGN WAS IMPORTANT IN MORE RECENT
TIMES, DURING WHICH INTERESTING REMAINS CAME TO
LIGHT.
ENCLOSED BY A WALL, IN SQUARED BLOCKS, THE
ENTRANCE TO THE HOLY AREA WAS THROUGH A PINCER
STYLE DOOR, THAT STILL TODAY GIVES ACCESS TO THE
EXCAVATIONS.
TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE ARE THE REMAINS OF A
HOSTEL FOR VISITING PILGRIMS.
TO THE SOUTH OF THE HOLY WAY WAS A BUILDING FOR
RITUAL BANQUETS WITH A SQUARE COURTYARD, BOTH
FROM THE END OF THE FOURTH CENTURY BC.
IN THIS AREA IS THE TEMPLE CALLED *B*, OF WHICH
ONLY THE FOUNDATIONS ARE PRESERVED.
THE MAIN TEMPLE IS *A*, 500-475 BC, DORIC,
PERIPTERAL, WITH 15 COLUMNS ON ITS LONG SIDES AND
6 ON THE SHORT, ONCE COVERED WITH MARBLE TILES
AND EMBELLISHED WITH PICTURES OF *ZEUSI*, STATUES
OF OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS, GOLDEN COLUMNS AND
BILINGUAL BRONZE TABLETS THAT NARRATED THE
CAMPAIGNS OF HANNIBAL.
OF THE WHOLE STRUCTURE, SACKED AND DAMAGED BY THE
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