| La Sila | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Botte Donato |
| Elevation | 1,928 m (6,325 ft) |
| Coordinates | 39°17′5.02″N16°26′49.53″E / 39.2847278°N 16.4470917°E |
| Geography | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Calabria |
| Provinces | Cosenza, Crotone and Catanzaro |
| Range coordinates | 39°22′N16°30′E / 39.367°N 16.500°E |
La Sila, also simply Sila, is the name of the mountainous plateau and historic region located in Calabria, southern Italy. The Sila National Park is known to have the purest air in Europe. [1] [2]
The Sila occupies part of the provinces of Cosenza, Crotone and Catanzaro, and is divided (from north to south) into the sub-ranges Sila Greca, Sila Grande and Sila Piccola ("Greek", "Greater" and "Lesser Sila", respectively). The highest peaks are the Botte Donato (1,928 m), in the Sila Grande, and Monte Gariglione (1,764 m) in the Sila Piccola.
The Sila Greca is the northernmost section and is now mostly cultivated rather than thick woods. Around this area, Albanian villages such as San Demetrio Corone sprang up when Albanians were fleeing the wrath of Muslim invaders. [3]
The Sila houses the eponymous national park, the Parco Nazionale della Sila, formerly called National Park of Calabria; it was created in 2002.
The pine tree Pinus nigra ssp. laricio, commonly called Corsican pine is native to the Sila. Virgil, Tucidides, Strabo, Cassiodorus report the vast expanses of pines in the Sila. [4]
Geologically these mountains, which consist of granite, gneiss and mica schist, are the oldest portion of the Italian peninsula; their culminating point is the Botte Donato (6330 ft), and they are not free of snow until the late spring. [5]
The name goes back to the Greek period, and then probably belonged to a larger extension of territory than at present. In ancient times these mountains supplied timber to the Greeks for shipbuilding. [5]
The first known settlers of the Sila plateau were the Bruttii, an ancient tribe of shepherds and farmers. Rome began to extend its sphere of influence over Calabria, Sila included, to the extent that any outside rule affected these mountains. Later it was nominally occupied in turn by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines and, from the 11th century, the Italo-Normans. The last favoured the creation of several monasteries, such as Santa Maria della Matina of San Marco Argentano, Sambucina at Luzzi and Florense Abbey at San Giovanni in Fiore, founded by Joachim of Fiore.
In 1448-1535 immigrants from Albania settled the area towards the Ionian Sea, creating the communities of Sila Greca ("Greek Sila"). [6]
After the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy (late 19th century), Sila remained a base of brigandage. New routes were opened to reduce the isolation of the mountain centres, which was dramatic especially in winter: these included the Paola-Cosenza-Crotone road, and specialised mountain railways such as the Cosenza-Camigliatello Silano-San Giovanni in Fiore narrow-gauge line (now operating only for tourist special excursions), operated by the Ferrovie Calabro Lucane, and the Paola-Cosenza rack railway, operated by Ferrovie dello Stato.
In 1915, the British traveller Norman Douglas, author of the travelogue "Old Calabria", wrote about the Sila as "... a venerable granite plateau, which stood here when the proud Apennines were still dozing on the oozy bed of the ocean...". [7]
The 1949 film The Wolf of the Sila was set in the area, and much of it was shot on location.
Today several centres, such as Camigliatello and Palumbo Sila, are becoming tourist resorts.
Calabria is a region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It has almost 2 million residents across a total area of 15,222 km2 (5,877 sq mi). Catanzaro is the region's capital.
The Arbëreshë, also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group minority historically settled in Southern and Insular Italy.
Cosenza is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a population of more than 700,000. The demonym of Cosenza in English is Cosentian.
The province of Catanzaro is a province of the Calabria region of Italy. The city Catanzaro is both capital of the province and capital of the region of Calabria. The province contains 80 comuni. Its provincial president is Sergio Abramo.
The province of Crotone is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was formed in 1992 out of a section of the province of Catanzaro. The provincial capital is the city of Crotone. It borders the provinces of Cosenza, Catanzaro, and also the Ionian Sea. It contains the mountain Pizzuta, the National Park of the Sila, Montagnella Park, and the Giglietto Valley. Crotone was founded in 710 BCE. It participated in the Second Punic War against the Roman Republic.
Rossano is a town and frazione of Corigliano-Rossano in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. The city is situated on an eminence c. three kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Gulf of Taranto. The town is known for its marble and alabaster quarries.
Acri is a city of 19,949 inhabitants situated in the northern part of Calabria region in southern Italy. Acri was granted city status on 17 September 2001.
Castrovillari is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
Longobucco is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Longobucco is one of the main municipalities of the Sila National Park and in terms of its territory is one of the largest in Calabria. It is a small town in the heart of Sila Greca, part of the Greater Sila Plateau, in the midst of mountains, rivers and lakes that are home to numerous species of animals and plants.
Sila National Park is an Italian national park in Calabria. It was established in 1997 and covers about 74,000 hectares. Its highest mountains are Mt. Botte Donato (1,928m), in Sila Grande, and Mt. Gariglione (1,764m) in Sila Piccola. The park is set with the Regional Decree 14.11.2002 from the Official Journal num. 63 - 17/03/2003 and includes its own Management Agency founded. This park area includes the territories formerly as part of the “Historical” Calabria National Park (1968), which protects areas of great environmental interest in Sila Piccola, Sila Grande and Sila Greca, for a total of 736.95 utenti che seguo kilometers, in 21 municipalities, 6 Mountains Communities and 3 provinces of Calabria Region.
Cecita Lake is a man made lake in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy.
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, compose the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous (sui juris) particular church in full communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches, but which follows the Byzantine Rite, the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It uses two liturgical languages: Koine Greek, the traditional language of the Eastern Churches, and Albanian, the native language of most of its adherents.
Catanzaro Lido railway station is one of the railway stations serving the city and comune of Catanzaro, capital of the Calabria region, southern Italy. Opened in 1875, it forms part of the Jonica railway, and is also a terminus of a secondary line, the Lamezia Terme–Catanzaro Lido railway.
Most narrow-gauge railways in Italy were built with Italian metre gauge, which is actually 950 mm because historically the Italian track gauge was defined from the centres of the rail instead of the internationally accepted method of measuring the gauge from the inside edges of the rails. Several metre-gauge lines were built in northern Italy.
The Salerno–Reggio Calabria railway is the most important north–south railway connection between Sicily, Calabria and the rest of the Italian peninsula. It forms the southern section of Corridor 1 of the European Union's Trans-European high-speed rail network, which connects Berlin and Palermo. Its southern part, between Rosarno and San Lucido is also used as an RFI freight route between the Port of Gioia Tauro and the Adriatic railway.
The Neto is a river in Calabria, southern Italy. It is the second largest river of Calabria after the Crati.
Botte Donato is a mountain in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is part of the La Sila mountainous plateau and is the highest peak in the range at 1,928 meters in height. The mountain is within Sila National Park and the province of Cosenza. To the north of the mountain are the lakes Lago di Cecita and Lago di Ariamacina and to the south is the lake Lago Arvo.
Lago Arvo is a lake in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. It is located in La Sila east of Aprigliano and west of San Giovanni in Fiore. The lake is south of Lago di Ariamacina and Botte Donato and northwest of Lago Ampollino. The Arvo flows into and out of the lake. The lake is a reservoir built between 1927 and 1931 by damming the Arvo. Its purpose is to generate hydroelectricity.
Provola silana is a variety of cheese typical of the Sila area, in the Italian region of Calabria.
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