| Lace | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Calabria | |
| Territory | Vibonese | |
| Altitude | 44 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 22.89 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 9.298 (2016) | |
| Name inhabitants | Napitini or pizzitani | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0963 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 89812 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | San Giorgio (April 23) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Lace is a center of the Calabria.
To know
The town, home of the ice cream known as truffle, is a well-known tourist center commonly called Pizzo Calabro.
Geographical notes
Located on the Calabrian coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is 10 km from Vibo Valentia and it is the second most populous municipality in the Vibonese area.
When to go
Some international residential villages on the sandy coast north of Pizzo itself are very active, while the restaurants of the Marina and the ice cream parlors of the Lido are seasonally busy in the city. Contrary to a trend in the past concentrated on the month of August and a few weeks in July, lately the villages of the coast are populated by non-seasonal tourism even if of short stay, coming from Eastern and Northern European countries. The small church of Piedigrotta and the center attract a rush of tourism, coming from the villages of Tropea and the Vatican coast. Crowded the pizzitane summer nights, in the Marina and in the square.
Background
Legend has it that Pizzo was founded at the time of Magna Graecia by Nepeto, but there is no evidence of such an ancient origin, even if locally someone uses the term Napitia "napizia" for commercial reasons, and the word "napitini for the inhabitants." .
There are certain news of the existence of a fort and a village only starting from 1300, and of the existence of the community of Basilian monks, while traces remain in the territory of an ancient fishing activity, especially tuna. The name Pizzo (= bird's beak, protruding point) fits perfectly to the tufaceous promontory that juts out into the sea, rising from the mouth of the Angitola river, up to the Marina beach, where the small Aragonese fort, called today Murat Castle, for the tragic events of 13 October 1815.
The strong position and the castle favored the growth of the fishing village, also due to the successful tuna fishing activity. For centuries the tuna, in the month of May - June, reached the beaches of the Gulf of S. Eufemia by the millions, and the famous tuna traps of Bivona and Pizzo arose there. Right next to the Church of Piedigrotta, on the beach called Prangi, in the area called Centofontane, due to the still current existence of many sources of fresh water, the rais and his men placed, until the seventies, the trap that was held by cables that started from the rocks on the ground, under the current Church of S. Francesco di Paola. In the rocks in the sea there are traces of this activity. The stone arch that held the cable collapsed, but you can see swimming pools, stairs, excavations, tubs, sprinkled by sources of fresh water that are not very abundant today, where the tuna probably washed. Today five long perpendicular piers appear submerged in the sea, in the locality of Prangi / CentoFontane / Grotta del Bue.
In the Piedigrotta / Prangi area, the caves of the Bue (it is thought that the monk seal, called sea ox), and the Saraceno / Centofontane caves were still there in the nineteenth century. The cave of the Saracen, immense, today unsafe is the subject of a tradition according to which for years it was used by Saracen and Barbary pirates, as a deposit for prey and for people captured in raids in the inland countries. This is possible considering that that area of the coast has remained depopulated for centuries precisely because of the incessant bandit action of pirates of different origins, engaged in the capture of slaves, the driving force of antiquity.
Pizzo was famous in the Bourbon era as the arrival point of the postal ship from Naples, even if it did not have a real port, and as a place of origin for delicious fish, primarily tuna, fresh or in oil. The Bourbon kings often asked for tuna and other fish, for which Pizzo was famous.
The Bourbons made some intervention for Pizzo, and there is trace of the 1854 trip of King Ferdinand II, who came to Calabria with the Neapolitan army in armed exercise, and with his son Francesco (he called Ciccillo). One night the King was stuck at the mouth of the Angitola river, and the Pizzitani offered him hospitality in stately homes, but the king wanted to accept the hospitality of the convent of San Francesco di Paola, to which he was very devoted. It is said that the convent was absolutely unprepared to receive the king and that they did not even have water. On the course there is a plaque commemorating the event. The castle testifies to the presence of the Aragonese in the 15th century.
In this very place, the Aragonese castle, Gioacchino Murat, king of Naples and brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was shot on 13 October 1815, after a few days of imprisonment and a trial in the main hall of the castle and was then buried in the church of San Giorgio. Today the Aragonese castle of Pizzo is called Castello Murat. Inside the Castle there is the Murattian provincial museum.
How to orient yourself
Pizzo (Italy): full screen map.Pizzo is a village on the coast, perched on a promontory in the center of the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia. Its territory includes a rugged coast, characterized by sandy beaches in some parts and rocks in others.
On the north east coast, from the Mediterranean pine forest to the fortress, there are almost 9 km of wide sandy beaches. At the end of the district Marinella the mountain of Vibo rises, which acts as a curtain to the territory.
Further south, where the tuff rock on which Pizzo was born and developed rises, the coast becomes rocky with numerous coves and areas rich in natural rocks, as well as several caves, including the Blue Cave, reopened in recent years, after various interventions for protection from wave motion.
In the central area we find the Seggiola beach, a small fjord in the center of the tufaceous boulder on which the inhabited area dominates the Aragonese Castle erected in the second half of the 15th century by Ferdinand I of Aragon and the Marina, a pretty seaside resort as well as a night spot.
How to get
By plane
- The nearest airport is that of Lamezia Terme, which is about 25 km from the center.
By car
- A3 motorway Salerno-Reggio Calabria up to the Pizzo junction
On the train
- Pizzo station, located outside the town on the monorail train.
- Station of Vibo Valentia-Pizzo on the direct route, also at a great distance from the town.
How to get around
What see
- 1 Piedigrotta church (in the locality of La Madonnella). Entirely carved out of the tuffaceous rocks, it is located one kilometer north of Pizzo. Inside there are several sculptural groups that furnish it, also in tuff. The church is contiguous to the beach, and being exposed to the west the afternoon visit is very suggestive, when the sun's rays penetrate into the depths of the caves highlighting the colors of the mineral salts that cover the walls. Some define the visit to the church as a mystical experience.
- A circular painting, on the central nave of the Church, represents a sea storm and a sailing ship in evident difficulty, referring to the history of the church, whose first nucleus was built as an ex voto for the surviving shipwreck by some sailors in 1675 .
- Between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, the sculptor Angelo Barone enlarged the pre-existing cave by creating a church. During the hard excavation phase he took care to leave some blocks of tuff which he later transformed into statues. The son, Alfonzo Barone, wanted to continue his father's work and further enlarged the church, creating other statues, capitals and bas-reliefs. In 1969, the sculptor Giorgio Barone, grandson of the two artists mentioned, returning from Canada, partially restored the statues and sculpted two medallions depicting Pope John XXIII and John Kennedy.
- The church is open every day and mass is celebrated there on July 2, on the occasion of the Madonna delle Grazie.
- 2 Castle Murat, Descended Murat Castle, ☎ 39 0963 532523. The castle in which Gioacchino Murat was a prisoner, now used as a museum, was built in 1492 by Ferdinand I of Aragon. It is a quadrangular construction on one side overlooking the sea and on the other surrounded by a deep moat.
- Inside there is a remnant of a sculpture by Antonio Canova (the original work was destroyed during the passage of Giuseppe Garibaldi, only a part representing a helmet remains intact). The interior was accessed via a drawbridge built between two towers, which has now been replaced by a traditional limestone bridge.
- The castle is dedicated to Murat, who was shot here on 13 October 1815. Inside the building there are some historical reconstructions and evidence of those tragic events.
- 3 Mother Church of San Giorgio, Via san Giorgio 1. It is the main church of the town, located in the center of the town. Baroque building from 1632, it preserves a statue of Christ by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and a marble portal by the sculptor Fontana. The church houses the tomb of Gioacchino Murat.
- Church of SS. Ferdinand and Immaculate (Church of the Navy). It was built in the 18th century on the ruins of the Convent of the Augustinian Fathers destroyed by the earthquake of 1783. It houses the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated in September, and a wooden statue of San Ferdinando.
- Church of San Sebastiano. It dates back to the 16th century and is the seat of the Archconfraternity of the name of Maria Santissima. It preserves stuccos, wooden statues: San Giuseppe celebrated in March, San Sebastiano celebrated in January, SS. Name of Mary celebrated in September; moreover there are the statues of the passion and death of Jesus, used for the traditional procession of Good Friday, called "di l'Angeleji", decorations and gold and other works by Calabrian artists such as Zimatore, Morani, Murmura, Grillo, Carioti. The 18th century carved walnut stalls are interesting.
- Church of the Purgatory (Church of the Dead). Building of 1651, in the crypt there is an underground burial pit characterized by numerous wall niches that house seated or vertical skeletons, held upright by a hook.
- 4 Church of the Madonna del Carmine. It is the oldest church in Pizzo, built in 1579. It preserves numerous frescoes and statues, including the wooden ones of the Madonna del Carmine celebrated in July, and of Santa Rita da Cascia celebrated in May.
- 5 Church of the Immaculate Conception. On the main altar of the church, built in 1630, there is a wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception, of considerable value, celebrated in December together with Saint Lucia.
- 6 Convent of the Minimal Fathers of San Francesco di Paola. Important building, dates back to 1579, like the corresponding church, rebuilt after the 1905 earthquake. Since 2013 the Parish of San Rocco and San Francesco di Paola has been elevated to a Diocesan Sanctuary
- Station Church. So called because it is located near the Pizzo station, it is dedicated to the Madonna of Piedigrotta. Several times damaged by earthquakes and recently restored, it is now a parish and houses a wooden statue of the Madonna di Piedigrotta sitting on a throne, celebrated in July and invoked as "Madonnina del Mare" or "of the sailors".
- Palaces. In addition to religious buildings, the town includes a good number of prestigious civil buildings, largely linked to the name of prestigious families: Palazzo Caria, Palazzo Musolino, Palazzo Alcalá, Palazzo Mattei, Palazzo Camarda, Palazzo Tranquillo, Palazzo Scordamaglia Stingi, Palazzo Castiglione Morelli, villa Castiglione Morelli, villa Cordopatri.
Events and parties
| Giro d'Italia 2018 |
The seventh stage of the Giro will start from Pizzo on 11 May with arrival in Praia a Mare. |
- Lace Folk Festival.
in August. Review of songs and dances typical of the Calabrian and Southern Italy tradition.
in August. Review of songs and dances typical of the Calabrian and Southern Italy tradition.What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 Pizzo restaurant, Via Riviera Prangi (Marinella locality), ☎ 39 327 4541859.
- 2 Isolabella restaurant, Via Acquario, 14, ☎ 39 0963 264128.
- 3 Crazy Hoerse Brewery and Grill, Via Riviera Prangi, ☎ 39 392 863 1262.
- 4 Lido the Oasis, Via Riviera Prangi snc, ☎ 39 338 816 5450.
- 5 ME Restaurant, Contrada Ponte Di Ferro, ☎ 39 0963 534532.
- 6 The Lampara, Via Marcello Salomone, 128, ☎ 39 0963 532431.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 Napeto Village tourist village, Via Riviera Prangi, ☎ 39 0963 534966.
- 2 Residence Pietre Bianche, Provincial road to Vibo Marina (Ponte di Ferro locality), ☎ 39 0963 531796.
- 3 [link not working]B&B Murat, Via B. Musolino, 23, ☎ 39 349 555 1526.
- 4 Bed and Breakfast Casa Armonia, Vico II Harmony, ☎ 39 0963 533337.
Safety
Pharmacies
- 1 Head of the farmhouse, Via Marconi, 13, ☎ 39 0963 531148.
- 2 The Phoenix, Via Nazionale, 10/12, ☎ 39 0963 531110.
- 3 Marcellini, Via Nazionale 59, ☎ 39 0963 531579.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 4 Italian post, via Nazionale 63, ☎ 39 0963 531227.
- 5 Italian post, Procopio square 1, ☎ 39 0963 539249.
- 6 Mail Express Private post, Via Nazionale, 93, ☎ 39 0963 533019.
Around
Itineraries
- Kalabria coast to coast - Itinerary that runs through the region from coast to coast through the mountains of the Calabrian Apennines.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Pizzo (Italy)
Commons contains images or other files on Pizzo (Italy)
Wikiquote contains quotes from or about Pizzo (Italy)
