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Liceo Statale “Vito Capialbi” Musicale – Coreutico - Linguistico - Scienze Umane - Scienze Umane con opzione Economico-Sociale

Via S. Ruba, 29 - 89900 VIBO VALENTIA - Cod. Mecc. VVPM01000T 0963/93450 Cod. Fisc. 96012940795 sito web: www.istitutocapialbi.gov.it e-mail: vvpm01000t@istruzione.it

“Music to Decrease Inequality at School”

2 April – 8 April 2017

Travel Guide

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Arrival of participants Lamezia Terme Airport

Located in Calabria, Italy, Lamezia Terme International Airport is roughly situated where the Italian “boot”

has its toes. The airport’s IATA code SUF is derived from Sant’Eufemia – a district of Lamezia Terme. The

town is just 3 km away and within just 1km there is an exit from the airport onto the motorway A3 for

onward travel by hire car.

Serving not just domestic air travel within Italy, Lamezia Terme also has a plethora of international

destinations to offer. Major airlines operating from this airport are Monarch, Ryanair, Air Italy, Air Berlin,

Alitalia, Easyjet, Germanwings, KLM, Air France and Helvetic Airways among others.

The airport has a runway of 7920 ft / 2,414 m length and is operated by Sacal S.p.A. There’s just one

terminal building at present, serving both arrivals and departures. The airport can handle up to 2,000,000

passengers per year and at the close of 2008 Lamezia Terme International celebrated the check-in of its

1,500,000th passengers.

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Vibo Valentia

Vibo Valentia is a city and municipality in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the

Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the province of Vibo Valentia, and is an agricultural,

commercial and tourist center (the most famous places nearby are Tropea, Capo Vaticano and

Pizzo). There are also several large manufacturing industries, including the tuna district of

Maierato. Very important for the local economy is Vibo Marina's harbour.

Vibo Valentia was originally the Greek colony of Hipponion. It was founded, probably around the

late 7th century BC, by inhabitants of Locri, an important city of the Italian Magna Graecia, south

of Vibo Valentia on the Ionian Sea. The Roman historian Diodorus Siculus reports that the city was

conquered in 388 BC by Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, who deported all the population.

The population came back in 378 BC, with the help of the Carthaginians. In the following years

Hipponion came under the dominion of the Bruttii, who controlled most of Calabria. After the town

fell to Rome, the name was Latinized to Hipponium. The town became a Roman colony in 194 BC

with the name of Vibo Valentia. After a phase of prosperity during the late Republic and early

Empire, the town was almost completely abandoned after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

In 1070 the Normans built a castle at the site of the old Acropolis and in 1235 a new city was

established by Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor and king of Sicily, with the name of Monteleone.

The city took back the old Roman name of Vibo Valentia only in 1928.

Some places to visit: Norman – Swabian Castle, built around 1087 by Roger of Normandy now

housing the State Museum of Archaeology

Cathedral of S. Leoluca, containing the noteworthy Trittico by Gangemi

Church of S.Michele, recently restored to its ancient splendour

Villa Comunale, once the private garden of Villa Gagliardi

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Scilla (Greek: Σκύλλα), a town in the Province of Reggio Calabria, is the traditional home of the

sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology.

The town lies on the the Straits of Messina. Town offices and the residence of the patronal saint

are situated in the centre while Marina di Scilla, the beach-front, is populated by tourists and thus

heavily characterized by hotels and restaurants.

Scilla's traditional fishing district of Chianalea is considered one of the prettiest coastal areas in

Italy.

The Ruffo Castle, a fortress built by the Dukes of Calabria overlooks the beach. On a seaward-

facing terrace is Scilla Lighthouse, an important aid to ships entering the Strait of Messina from the

north.The village suffered greatly from the devastating 1783 earthquake and the 1908 Messina

earthquake.

Scilla: The Marina Reggio Calabria: The Seafromt

Reggio di Calabria is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria. It is the

capital of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria and the seat of the Regional Council of

Calabria.

Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula and is separated from the island of Sicily by

the Strait of Messina. It is situated on the slopes of the Aspromonte, a long, craggy mountain range

that runs up through the centre of the region. The third economic centre of mainland Southern Italy,

the city proper has a population of more than 200,000 inhabitants spread over 236 square kilometres

(91 sq mi), while the fast-growing urban area numbers 260,000 inhabitants. About 560,000 people

live in the metropolitan area, recognised in 2015 as a metropolitan city.

Reggio is the oldest city in the region, but despite its ancient foundation , it has a modern urban

system, set up after the catastrophic earthquake of 28 December 1908, which destroyed most of the

city.

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It is a major economic centre for regional services and transport on the southern shores of the

Mediterranean.

Reggio, with Naples and Taranto, is home to one of the most important archaeological museums,

the prestigious National Archaeological Museum of Magna Græcia, dedicated to Ancient Greece

(which houses the Bronzes of Riace, rare examples of Greek bronze statues which have become the

symbols of the city).

The city centre, consisting primarily of Liberty buildings, has a linear development along the coast

with parallel streets, and the promenade is dotted with rare magnolias and exotic palms. Reggio has

commonly used popular nicknames: The "city of Bronzes", after the Bronzes of Riace that are

testimonials of its Greek origins; the "city of bergamot", which is exclusively cultivated in the

region; and the "city of Fatamorgana", an optical phenomenon visible in Italy only from the Reggio

seaside.

The Bronzes of Riace

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The Murat Castle, Pizzo Calabro

Pizzo, also called Pizzo Calabro, is a seaport and comune in the province of Vibo Valentia situated

on a steep cliff overlooking the Gulf of Santa Eufemia.

Fishing is one of the main activities, including that of tuna and coral.

As with many other places in Calabria, Pizzo claims ancient origins. The town may have been

founded by colonists from an unknown site in ancient Magna Graecia, but there is currently no

documentary or archeological evidence to support this. Consequently, the history of Pizzo begins in

1300 when the existence of a community of Basilian monks, a fort, and a fishing village is

documented . The name Pizzo (translated either as bird's beak or projecting point) fits perfectly with

the tuffa promontory that juts out into the sea near the mouth of the river Angitola.

For centuries tuna was trapped in the beaches around Pizzo, especially in the months of May and

June. Despite fading in importance over time this activity continued until the 1970s in the

Centofontane area, where nets were spread to corral tuna from offshore. Ruins of the activity

remain. The activity is now banned. The Piedigrotta and Prangi areas include some sea caves, and

"the cave of the Saracen", although largely eroded today, was supposedly used by Saracen pirates to

store booty and people captured during their raids along the coast of Calabria. The Church of

Piedigrotta, hewn in the sandstone on the seashore is one of the foremost tourist attractions of the

town.

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The former King of Naples Joachim Murat, who was the brother-in-law of Napoleon was

imprisoned for several days in the town's Aragonese castle and then sentenced to death. He was

executed by firing squad on October 13, 1815, in the main hall of the castle and was possibly buried

in the church of San Giorgio. Paradoxically, the castle is now called Castello Murat. Inside the

castle is the Provincial Museum Murat.

In 1783 the town was almost destroyed by an earthquake, and it suffered some damage from the

same cause in 1905.

Pizzo is famous in the area for its Tartufo, a large ball of ice cream filled with molten chocolate.

Inside the Church of Piedigrotta, Pizzo Calabro

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Vibo Marina is a port town in the province of Vibo Valentia. It is a frazione of the town of Vibo

Valentia. It has around 10,000 inhabitants.

The town lies in the Gulf of Saint Eufemia, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Pizzo and Bivona are nearby;

other important towns near Vibo Marina are Vibo Valentia, Lamezia Terme and Tropea.

In the 3rd century BC, Agathocles the tyrant of Syracuse ordered the construction of a harbour

where Vibo Marina now stands. The installation of the harbour goes from the caste of Bivona to the

high part of Vibo Marina, where a Roman manor had existed in ancient times.

Vibo Marina was originally called Porto Santa Venere (Saint Venus' Harbour). A legend tells that

the local fishermen discovered on the sandy shore a statue of Saint Venus. Under the Fascist

government, the name was changed in 1928 to Vibo Marina.

It is an important industrial area in the economy of the Vibo Valentia province. Here there is an

important commercial and tourist harbour for petrol distribution, fish selling (especially tuna),

Aeolian Islands sea connection.

The Port Authority is one of the most important in Southern Italy and is responsible for tourist and

commercial shipping in the area. It has also taken an active part in search and rescue missions for

illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

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Tropea ( ancient Trapeia; Τράπεια in Ancient Greek) is a municipality located within the province

of Vibo Valentia

The town is a famous bathing place, situated on a reef, in the gulf of St. Euphemia connected with

the mainland by a narrow strip in the Tyrrhenian Sea, toward the south with respect to Vibo

Valentia and northward with respect to Ricadi and Capo Vaticano.

The history of Tropea begins in Roman times, when along its coast, Sextus Pompey defeated

Octavius. In the south of Tropea, the Romans had built a commercial port, in the locality of

Formicoli (from the name Forum of Hercules), mentioned by Pliny and Strabo.

The legend says that it was Hercules who, returning from Spain (Pillars of Hercules) stood on the

Coast of Gods and made Tropea one of his ports.

In the Norman cathedral of Tropea there is a picture of Virgin Mary of Romania, of Byzantine

origin, dating from around 1330.

The legend says that a boat coming from the East-Byzantine Empire (hence the name Virgin Mary

of Romania) was driven into the port of Tropea by a storm. After repairing the damage, the captain

tried to leave, but the ship still stayed in the harbor. That same night, the Bishop of the city,

Ambrogio Cordova, dreamed of the Virgin Mary asking him to stay in Tropea and becoming its

Protectress. The dream repeated itself for several nights. Eventually the bishop summoned the

senior officials and the citizens, and together they went to the port to take the picture of the Virgin

Mary. As soon as the painting was brought to shore the ship departed.

The Virgin Mary promised to defend the city from pestilence, earthquakes, and war, and many

events that took place since then seem to attest to this.

According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared several times in dreams to the Bishop, warning

him of an earthquake that would devastate Calabria. On the March 27, 1638, the Bishop established

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a penitential procession, involving all the people from Tropea. Thanks to the procession, the

earthquake which struck that very day caused no harm.

The citizens of Tropea were also saved from the 1783 Calabrian earthquakes, much stronger and

more tragic than the previous one, that affected the whole of Calabria. This event strengthened the

devotion to the Virgin Mary of Romania, and the citizens of Tropea proclaimed her the patron of

Tropea.

During World War II Tropea suffered a bombing, but the six bombs which fell on Tropea all fell

into a hole and remained unexploded.

Many villages around Tropea produce a particular quality of red onion. In Italy these onions are so

famous that cipolla di Tropea ("Tropea onion") has become an Italian synonym for all red onions.

One of the gelaterias in town, Tonino in the Corso, even makes a red onion ice cream (as well as

others based on squid ink and nduja, the local spicy salami).

Capo Vaticano is formed by a particular white-gray granite, which is examined worldwide for its

geologic characteristics.

The maximum altitude of the cape is about 124 meters.

The coast of Capo Vaticano starts from the Tono bay of ends in Virgin Mary bay. The most

suggestive bay near the Cape is Grotticelle, which divided into beaches.

The famous Venetian writer Giuseppe Berto made Capo Vaticano his home, after travelling

throughout Italy. "Capo Vaticano", he wrote, "is called Vatican as a Roman hill: once priests and

fortune tellers searched for the future basing their predictions on birds' flights. 200 meters over the

Cape there is a rock called Mantineo and in ancient Greek it means: to communicate with God. The

Cape was a holy place and now it is the same".

Capo Vaticano is considered as having the ideal climate for growing Red onions from Tropea.

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Lamezia Terme Airport for departures

Goodbye to our guests

Have a safe journey back to

Thessaloniki, Greece

Vilnius, Lithuania

Barcelos, Portugal

Braila, Romania

Sultangazi, Turkey

We hope you will enjoy your stay with us in Vibo Valentia and will

have learnt something about the places you will be visiting in and

around Vibo Valentia in our Travel Guide.