Page 89 - Mediterraneo e dintorni - Maggio 2020

Lorica

Non c’è quasi nessuno scrittore che
non abbia celebrato la felicità della
quiete rurale e deliziato il lettore con
la melodia degli uccelli, il sussurro

di boschi, e il mormorio dei ruscelli
(Samuel Johnson)

rural houses in Calabria

Being part of an association that deals with hiking and
seizing the consequent opportunities that it offers, gives
you the opportunity to get to know every more remote corner
of the area. It is my case. Always passionate about travel and
adventures, around the end of the 90s I joined the Catanzaro
section of the Italian Alpine Club. Since then I began to wander
in particular my region, Calabria, from top to bottom: from the
highest peaks of the Pollino and Orsomarso, to the more hidden
rivers of the Aspromonte, passing through Serre and Sila. An
incredibly fascinating territory, the Calabrian hinterland, which
contains, in addition to a wonderful nature and fortunately
in large stretches still completely wild, also man’s works that
integrate well into the landscape context. I’m not talking about
the horrible wind turbines that are guilty of devastating this
wonderful landscape, but the thousands of stone cottages and
farmhouses with which the whole territory is scattered. Often
now simple ruins, sometimes wisely preserved, they maintain
and will maintain an unparalleled charm forever. The stone
itself is an archaic material, the only one that manages to
convey, already at the first visual impact, a feeling of security
mixed with the suggestion coming from an attractive austerity.

Mediterraneo e dintorni - 87