Religious itineraries JUBILEE 2025
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- Last Updated on Friday, 21 March 2025 18:41
- Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 15:42
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ASPROMONTE GRECO: DISCOVERING THE ITALO-GREEK SAINTS
A religious-cultural-naturalistic journey to rediscover one's roots organised independently with overnight stay and breakfast in the ‘B&Bs located in the Hamlet of Bova
COST OF OVERNIGHT STAY WITH BREAKFAST IN:
B&B KALÒS and KALÒS ESPERIENCE : €70/night/room (MINIMUM 3 NIGHTS). Accommodation in a double/twin room ensuite, air conditioning/heating, minifrigor, WiFi .
PRETTY GRECANIC COTTAGE: 100€/night/room (MINIMUM 3 NIGHTS). Accommodation in apt with 1 double/twin room, open space , kitchenette, bathroom, air conditioning/heating, minifrigor, WiFi .
DISCOUNTS FOR RELIGIOUS AND ROOT TOURISM:
free of charge information for planning your own trip/visits/tourist .
THE ITINERARY
By virtue of the manifestation of interest of the Region of Calabria to promote Calabria to pilgrims with pilgrim's cards, arriving in Italy on the occasion of the Holy Year (Jubilee 2025), interested in visiting independently Calabria for the discovery of their origins and family history, the B&B KALÒS , B&B KALÒS EXPERIENCE and PRETTY GRECANIC COTTAGE, will give FREE all the information to make their own travel itinerary, to its guests who want to discover the Italo-Greek Saints and the culture and biodiversity of the Greek Aspromonte villages.
The B&B will facilitate autonomous use of the area, suggesting means of transport and timetables for getting around easily (TPL, NNC), giving information for short walks, but also hiking and trekking within the Aspromonte National Park, unique for its biodiversity (from April 2021 also recognised as a Unesco Global Geopark), giving contacts for guided tours (Official Park Guides/Aigae/Tourist Guides) and giving information/contacts for those wishing to walk the Basilian Way (Cammino Basiliano) and the English Path (Sentiero dell’Inglese), both of which pass through Bova.During the stay, days in the Grecanica Area can be dedicated to visiting:
- the Hamlet of Bova with the Gerhard Rholfs Museum of the Greek-Calabrian Language, the Path of Rural Civilisation, the Sanctuary of San Leo (Basilian monk), the Church of the Holy Spirit (consecrated to the Byzantine rite), the Museum of Palaeontology and Natural Sciences of Aspromonte
- the Hamlet of Staiti with the Byzantine Basilica of Santa Maria dei Tridetti and the Museum of Italo-Greek Saints;
- the Hamlet of Gallicianò (hamlet of Condofuri) with the Orthodox Church of Saint Mary in Greece (Panaghìa tis Elladas);
- the Hamlet of Pentedttilo (hamlet of Melito di Porto Salvo) and its five-fingered fortress;
- the Aspromonte National Park with its biodiversity, but also the UNESCO Geopark with the monoliths ‘Rocca del Drago’ (dragon rock) and ‘Caldaie del Latte’ (milk boilers) and with the geosite ”Fiumara dell’Amendolea” (Amendolea’s river);
- the ghost towns of Africo Antico, Roghudi Vecchio, and Casalinuovo.
THE LAND
The Hamlet of Bova (RC), where the B&Bs are located, is one of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in Italy’ for ANCI, ‘Orange Flag’ for the TCI, and ‘Jewel of Italy’ for the Ministry of Tourism. It has all the tourist services to welcome visitors (restaurants and B&Bs), and introduce them to this ancient part of Greek Calabria. It is 1h by car from Reggio Calabria Airport and 2h from Lamezia Terme International Airport. It is within the Aspromonte National Park, 900 metres above sea level, and overlooks the Sicilian Channel, including in its panorama, the Mediterranean maquis, the sea, the Sicilian coast and the sometimes smoking Mount Etna. It is a mediaeval village whose urban layout has remained intact over the centuries and which over the last 25 years has been the subject of a major conservation project, respecting its environment, culture and history and its Greek beauty and Byzantine refinement, preserved and enhanced to this day. Its community speaks the Greek language of Calabria, the ancient language of Homer, and expresses and preserves Greek cultural identity in its food and wine, music, handicraft traditions and loving hospitality towards strangers, here called filoxenìa. For the communities of Greek Calabria, the guest is sacred.... This way of thinking is part of the Greek history of this land: every traveller could be a God descending to earth in disguise... like a God of Olympus, once the sacred mountain for the ancient Greeks... So in Bova the guest is welcomed as if he were a god, and for this reason hospitality is ‘sacred’.
Greek Calabria is littered with the ruins of Greek Orthodox monasteries and churches. Suffice it to say that in the Hamlet of Bova, the cultural capital of the Grecanica Area, the Orthodox rite was officiated until 1573. Today, in Bova, the Byzantine rite is celebrated during the ‘Strong Periods’ in the Church of the Holy Spirit, consecrated to the same, and also in Bova, in the Sanctuary of San Leo, the remains of the Saint, a Basilian monk who turned pitch into bread, are preserved. During the Byzantine domination, Calabria was a pilgrimage destination for ascetics from Greece and the East: it was in fact the favourite region to receive these monks since Greek was already spoken and it was a mountainous region and therefore rich in places and ravines for meditating and building monasteries and numerous water sources used for ascetic practices, as in Asia Minor. Greek monasticism had its period of greatest diffusion between the 9th and 11th centuries and only from the 12th century was it defined by the Pope as Basilian monasticism to be distinguished from Benedictine monasticism. In reality, the Calabrian monks were inspired more by the hermits of the desert, in particular they followed the life of Saint Anthony Abbot and only later that of Saint Basil. The whole of Calabria was involved in this spirituality, but in particular Aspromonte, the slopes of the Sila Greca, and Mount Mercurion in northern Calabria, compared to Mount Athos in Greece.
There were many Calabrian monks, including San Nilo of Rossano, San Giovanni Theristi of Bivongi and San Leo of Bova whose remains are preserved in the Sanctuary of San Leo in the Hamlet of Bova. The 22 icons that portray them and tell their story are exhibited in the beautiful Museum of Italo-Greek Saints in Staiti, a small village in the Grecanica Area, where it is also possible to visit the Byzantine Abbey of Santa Maria de' Tridetti (11th century) on the road just outside the village. The artistic and literary activity of these monks has left masterpieces of art (icons, frescoes) scattered in the small churches of the ancient villages and in museums, as well as a literary work unique in the world: the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis. Recognition that Greek Calabria is steeped in Byzantine spirituality was witnessed in 2001 by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who visited the small Orthodox church dedicated to Saint Mary in Greece (Panaghìa tis Elladas) of Gallicianò.
MY EXPERIENCE PROPOSAL FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO HAVE A DEFINED PROGRAMME AND A GUIDE
MY Experience takes care of organising the experience with personalised information / suggestions on how to spend the stay, and makes use of B&B , restaurants and local guides, car hire who will invoice or issue receipts directly to tourists for the services provided.
Day 1 (Friday): meeting point Airport or RC station in the afternoon at 16.00.
Followed by a visit to the Marc (Riace Bronzes) and Reggio Cathedral (jubilee door). Transfer to Bova (dinner in a typical restaurant and overnight stay in B&B in Bova for the entire stay).
2nd day (Saturday): Breakfast in B&B. Afterwards visit of Bova and the Gerhard Rholfs Museum and the Path of Rural Civilisation. Lunch in a typical restaurant in Bova. In the afternoon the Italo-Greek Saints: Sanctuary of San Leo (Basilian monk) visit to the sanctuary, Church of the Holy Spirit (consecrated to the Byzantine rite) Cova Cathedral Isodia (jubilee door) . Dinner in a typical restaurant in Bova.
3rd day (Sunday): Breakfast in B&B. Day dedicated to the Italo-Greek Saints: visit to Staiti Santa Maria dei Tridetti and Museum of Italo-Greek Saints. Lunch in a typical restaurant in Staiti. Afternoon visit to Gallicianò to the Orthodox Church (Panaghìa) . Dinner in a typical restaurant in Gallicianò. Return to Bova.
4th day (Monday): Breakfast in B&B. Departure from Bova in the morning (packed lunch based on Lestopitta, an ancient dish typical of Bova) walk along the RC seafront, transfer to departure points (airport/station).
Proposal 4 days/ 3 nights: the approximate cost with independent travel to Reggio Calabria for:
2 persons Euro 650/person
4 persons Euro 580/person
8 persons Euro 440/person
is inclusive of:
Accommodation in B&B Double or triple room with en-suite bathroom (single with supplement) with room availability from 19.00 on day of arrival to 11.00 on day of departure.
Overnight stays: 3 nights with self-service breakfast
Dinners: n° 3 c/o typical restaurants (drinks and service included)
Lunches: 2 at typical restaurants (drinks and service included) + 1 packed lunch with typical products (La Lestopitta)
Transfers: to/from airport/station - Bova and destinations, and for all excursions as per programme
1 Official Aspromonte National Park Guide to accompany guests throughout their stay
1 Guide from Bova to visit the village and cultural attractions
ORGANISATIONAL NOTES:
Transfers are by car/bus with driver. Travel costs to/from Reggio Calabria and entrance fees to Museums are not included.
