Calabria > The Jonio coastline

The mountain mass of Pollino

Situated between Basilicata and Calabria, heart of the homonymous park( the largest in Italy with 192.000 hectares) the massif of Pollino gathers together some of the highest crests of the southern Ap- penines, with peaks reaching over 2000m of altitude. The name ,perhaps ,derives from pullus (young animal), with reference to the animals of this area taken to pasture, or perhaps for the many medicinal herbs to be found, from apollineus (from Apollo) or Mount Apollo, venerated as God of Health.

The Pollino presents us with a karst morphology, with grotto’s and abysses, sometimes vertiginous precipice’s, and also dry grassland and prairies of up to 1500me- ters. The mountains are marked with the passing of impetuous rivers during the winter, opening up gorges in the middle of the thickest of forests; famous are the Ra- ganello canyon, 13km long with depths of up to 800m, and the waterfalls formed by the Grimavolo torrent. In this environment small towns huddle against the hills and the houses seem to hang from the rock- face, scattered along narrow and tortuous slabs of stone. All offering us the idea of a nature and mountain uncontaminated, the thickest pine forests, real emblems of this ecosystem and park, with their bark which reminds us of antique armour, with strange forms, modelled throughout the years by atmospheric agents; packs of wolves still roam the mountain and eagles and the eagle owl soar the skies. Descending back down the forests leave way to the Mediterranean landscape where we can still encounter in the built up areas nucleus of arabesque (italo-al- banese) culture, language and traditions. The area of Pollino is protected within the circle of the National Park of Pollino and includes the provinces of; Cosenza, Mate- ra and Potenza.