fiogf49gjkf0d THE HOTEL IS LOCATED ABOUT 8 KM FROM PAOLA.
PAOLA
PAOLA, WHOSE HISTORIC CENTER IS IN A PANORAMIC
POSITION ON THE EXTREME APENNINE SLOPES OF THE
TYRRHENIAN COAST, EXTENDS ITS TERRACED LAND TO
THE SEA.
THE SEASIDE RESORT AND THE COMMERCIAL AREAS OF
PAOLA HAVE DEVELOPED NEAR THE STATION.
THE PAOLA AREA STILL SHOWS TRACES OF ROMAN,
BYZANTINE AND ARABIAN PRESENCE, BUT THE FIRST
MODERN SETTLERS CAME BETWEEN THE XIV AND THE XV
CENTURY.
DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, THIS SMALL VILLAGE
IN THE PROVINCE OF COSENZA LINKED ITS FATE TO ST.
FRANCIS OF PAOLA 1416-1507 WHO FOUNDED THE ORDER
OF THE MINIMI FRIARS AND WHO WAS BORN HERE.
IN THE XVI CENTURY THE VILLAGE CHANGED ITS URBAN
FEATURES.
MANY CHURCHES, STREETS, SQUARES AND FOUNTAINS
WERE BUILT AND, AFTER THE SAINT*S DEATH, IT
BECAME A PLACE OF PRAYER AND PILGRIMAGE.
NOWADAYS, THANKS TO ITS SANCTUARY, PAOLA IS ONE
OF THE MOST VISITED AND FAMED RELIGIOUS CENTERS
OF SOUTHERN ITALY.
IT ALSO HAS, HOWEVER, OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL,
HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC ATTRACTIONS, SUCH AS SOME
VERY VALUABLE CHURCHES AND MONUMENTS* THE DUOMO,
THE CASTLE, THE CONVENT OF S.AGOSTINO, THE ABBEY,
AND THE CHURCH DI SOTTERRA, BUT IT IS ALSO A
HOLIDAY RESORT KNOWN FOR THE REMARKABLE VARIETY
OF ITS LANDSCAPE.
THE FAVORABLE GEOGRAPHIC POSITION BETWEEN THE SEA
AND THE COASTAL CHAIN ALLOWS VISITORS TO PASS
FROM THE SUNNY BEACHES TO THE RELAXING SHADE OF
THE THICK BEECH AND PINE WOODS THAT COVER THE
NEARBY MOUNTAINS.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED ABOUT 36 KM FROM COSENZA.
COSENZA
MAIN CITY AND MOST IMPORTANT CENTER OF THE
PROVINCE, IS SITUATED IN THE RIVER CRATI VALLEY,
WHERE THE LATTER FLOWS INTO THE RIVER BUSENTO.
ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE BRETII, IT FLOURISHED
UNDER THE ROMANS THANKS TO THE POPILIA ROAD,
STRONG POINT OF THE IMPERIAL ROAD NETWORK.
IN 410 A.D. THE GOTHIC KING ALARIC, WHOM LEGEND
SAYS IS BURIED IN THE BED OF THE RIVER BUSENTO,
DIED IN A SIEGE.
DOMINATED BY THE SWABIAN CASTLE THAT RISES ON
MOUNT PANCRAZIO, COSENZA HAS A V CENTURY
CATHEDRAL, RE-BUILT IN THE XIII CENTURY AND
INAUGURATED BY EMPEROR FREDERICK II WHO, ON THAT
OCCASION, GAVE THE PRECIOUS STAUROTHEQUE.
RICH IN BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES AND OLD BUILDINGS
BUILT BY THE NOBLES, IT HAS ONE OF THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL AND BEST-PRESERVED HISTORIC CENTRES OF
THE REGION.
A CENTRE OF VERY ANCIENT CULTURE, IT WAS THE
BIRTHPLACE OF THE PHILOSOPHER BERNARDINO TELESIO
AND OF AULO GIANO PARRASIO WHO IN 1501 FOUNDED
THE STILL EXISTING ACADEMY.
SEAT OF THE BIGGEST CALABRIAN THEATRE, THE
RENDANO, NEO-CLASSIC IN STYLE, THE CITY IS ALSO
KNOWN FOR THE PALAZZO DELLA PROVINCIA, THE CIVIC
MUSEUM WHICH EXHIBITS MATERIAL DATING FROM
PREHISTORIC TO ROMAN TIMES, AND SEVERAL
LIBRARIES.
THE NEW PART OF THE CITY THAT EXTENDS NORTHWARDS
ALONG THE CRATI RIVER VALLEY IS IN CONSTANT
EXPANSION AND IS TURNING COSENZA INTO ONE OF THE
MOST MODERN AND ADVANCED CITIES OF THE PROVINCE.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED ABOUT 37 KM FROM AMANTEA.
AMANTEA
STANDING IN AN ENCHANTING POSITION ON THE
TYRRHENIAN COAST OF THE PROVINCE OF COSENZA, WITH
ITS HISTORIC CENTER CLINGING TO A ROCKY HILL AND
THE MODERN PART STRETCHING ALONG THE COAST.
IT OFFERS SPLENDID NATURAL SCENERY* A LIMPID SEA
MARKED BY THE ROCKS AND CLIFFS OF ISCA AND
CORECA.
THE PLACE, ALREADY INHABITED IN ANCIENT TIMES,
WAS SUBJECTED TO VARIOUS DOMINATION OVER THE
CENTURIES.
THE RICH HISTORIC HERITAGE OF THE TOWN INCLUDES
SOME STRETCHES OF THE DEFENSIVE WALLS THAT ARE
STILL VISIBLE.
THEY MARK THE BOUNDARY OF THE OLD CENTER AND THE
REMAINS OF THE SWABIAN CASTLE.
AMANTEA WAS AN IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS CENTER AS
WITNESSED BY THE REMAINS OF THE CHURCH OF ST.
FRANCIS OF ASSISI, BUILT IN THE THIRTEENTH
CENTURY, THE CHURCH OF S. BERNARDINO OF SIENA, AN
ADMIRABLE EXAMPLE OF LATE GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE,
AND THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CHURCH OF S. BIAGIO.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY CHURCHES ARE THAT OF SANTA MARIA
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