ARCHITECTURE + AIRBORNE European Travels: PIZZO, ITALIA [CALABRIA]

August 28-31, 2015
Pizzo is a small fishing village overlooking the Gulf of Santa Eufemia located in the province of Vibo Valentia, the smallest of the five provinces of Calabria. The coastline is known as the Costa deli dei, the Coast of Gods. It was also the start to our 4-day weekend getaway in Calabria. After arriving at the airport, we hopped into our fiat cinquecento and headed south along the coast. The weather was hot and the sun was already beaming at 8:30am as we headed to the lovely Pizzo.

By the time we found parking and headed into the center it was after 9am, but many of the stores were still not open and the cafes were just setting up. The village had a nice relaxed feel to it and slowly the piazza started to come alive and the Friday activities began.

I suppose the village is most known for the imprisonment and execution [by firing squad] of the former King of Naples Joachim Murat, who also happened to be the brother-in-law of Napoleon. He was executed on 13 October, 1815 in the main hall of the castle, which is oddly enough now called Castello Murat.

Pizzo is perched atop a high cliff with windy/narrow roads and many stairs. There are about 9.000 inhabitants, called Napitani or Pizzitani, and contains ten churches and fifteen gelaterie. The main square is Piazza della Republica, which is surrounded by beautiful buildings, cafes and shops. The roads leading to the piazza are filled with ancient houses, small villas and local food shops.

The village was nearly destroyed due to earthquakes in 1783 and 1905 and some buildings are still in need of repair. We enjoyed meandering through the streets and overlooking the amazingly clear coastline. One does not need a lot of time to explore Pizzo, but it was a great start to our holiday weekend.

While our visit was short, we still managed to try the areas famous Tartufo, a large sphere of ice cream filled with melted chocolate fudge sauce and coated with powdered sugar and cocoa. It was amazing! Another sight to see is the small cave chapel, Chiesetta di Piedigrotta, but we opted to continue on our journey south instead of stopping.