inTROPEA - Vacance in calabria

The writer Giuseppe Berto chose to live here, just a few metres away from the lighthouse on the sheer rocks of the cape; he wrote "Incubus" whilst living here and was laid to rest here in accordance with his express wishes. Giuseppe Berto was attracted by the wild allure of these places when he visited them in the mid-fifties as a journalist looking for inspiration, which he put to good use for some of his novels, and was so inspired that he decided to live  here for the rest of his life. This is how Giuseppe Berto described Cape Vatican: "As soon as I saw it, I knew that this land, offering glimpses of magical islands, was my second home and I decided that I would live here. I am standing on a promontory high above the sea and the view is magnificent. And in the daytime, from the tip of my promontory, I look out over the cliffs at the beaches a hundred metres below and the clear sea that immediately turns deep blue, and I know that I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world".

In just seven kilometres of clear waters with colours ranging from turquoise to deep blue and azure, beautiful views of indescribable allure continue one after the other. A succession of bays with sandy seabeds and crystal clear water, carved into rocky spurs, smooth tuff cliffs and pointed granite rocks high up above the sea, with gorges and caves that can only be reached by boats piloted by expert fishermen. The rocks are interspersed with the whitest beaches (some only accessible along rough paths), enhanced by the stark contrast with the blue of the sea and the intense green of the Mediterranean scrub, rich with broom, spurge, prickly pears, myrtle, heather and rare dwarf palms. The panorama is framed by vertiginous cliffs plunging into the sea below with coloured rocky seabeds rich with fish fauna and water that reflects the intense colours of the promontory slopes, dotted with ancient olive trees (possibly the most famous in Italy), oaks, cork oaks, pinasters, figs and old vineyards.  In fact, vineyards here are planted on terraces of land carved from the rocks by farmers with dry stone walls that gently descend towards the sea. The great prehistoric fern still grows in the deep valleys, making the countryside seem almost Jurassic… The goats climb the promontory's rocky slopes in search of fragrant grass and the peregrine falcons circle around undisturbed. It is a land rich in tradition and culture, with many traditional crafts using wood and ceramics still alive today and gourmet specialities such as the famous 'Nduja, the red Tropea onion and the giant lettuce. This corner of the Mediterranean is ripe for discovery…François Lenormant once write "Everyone should see this spectacle, unknown in our wild, dark and misty seas, at least once".

Permission to use the above text kindly granted by Mr Tripaldi Salvatore