Tour of Tropea – the tourist capital of Calabria and Pizzo – the city of Murat and Tartuffe (including transfers to the port and boat crossing).
Crossing from the port of Messina to the port of Villa San Giovanni (30 min). Transfer to Tropea (travel time 90 min.)
Walking tour of Tropea, a city, thanks to its strategic position, of great importance to the ancient Romans who founded it and gave it the name “Tropea”. The famous beach resort of Tropea, located on a rocky promontory between the bays of St Eufimia and Gioia Tauro in the Tyrrhenian Sea, is part of the province of Vibo Valentia. Tropea is considered one of the most important tourist centres in Calabria thanks to its natural landscapes, maritime beauty and historical monuments. Tropea is often called the “pearl” of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The old town has preserved many churches of different ages – the 12th century cathedral, the churches of St Francis of Assisi and St Mary, the Church of the Annunciation and others. Tropea also has impressive palaces that house valuable treasures. The Palazzo Toraldo, for example, houses private collections, including a collection of scrolls from the XII-XVII centuries, paintings from the XVII century, and Christian tombstones from the III-IV centuries. The Romanesque Cathedral, in the best traditions of the Sicilian-Norman style, was built in the 12th century on the site of a former Byzantine cemetery. The interior of the cathedral is notable for the 17th century statue of the Madonna della Liberta, made of Carrara marble, and the 1555 statue of the Madonna del Popolo by Giovanni Agnolo da Montorsoli, a pupil of Michelangelo.
The Church of the Annunciation, built by order of Charles V in 1535 during his stay in Tropea, is built on the site of early Gothic hermitages. Of interest in the interior of the church is a marble sculpture depicting a scene of the Annunciation, a fresco of the Scourging of Christ and a 15th century wooden crucifix. The church of St Mary, founded by Benedictine monks, stands on a high cliff surrounded by the sea and is thought to date from the 11th century.
Tropea has a diocesan museum, founded in 2004, whose collection is housed in the rooms of the bishop’s palace, located opposite the cathedral’s assembly.
Transfer to Pizzo Calabro, a medieval town that used to be a fishermen’s village. But became, in the words of A. Dumas “one of the Homeric stations of Napoleon’s Iliad”, after Joachim Murat landed here, was imprisoned in the Aragonese fortress and then executed. Murat’s body is buried in the Church of St George. In the middle of the last century, Pizzo also became famous for its confectioners, who invented the delicious ice cream “Tartufo” (truffle).
Tasting the ice cream in the town square.
Departure to the port of Villa San Giovanni.
