I PARCHI LETTERARI® IN CALABRIA “JOURNEYS TO THE FUTURE OF MEMORY” - I PARCHI LETTERARI ON THE ISTHMUS: STALETTÌ

The toponym derives from the Greek word stalactè (stillicide grotto). At Santa Maria del Mare, there are the remains of a fortress that can be traced to the 3rd Century A.D., which was unearthed during the excavations of the Byzantine castrum at Santa Maria del Mare, where the church of the same name can also be found. The ancient authors tell us of an Aurelian villa located on at the promontory of Stalettì. Cassiodorus founded the Vivariense Monastery at Copanello. There is also the Church of St. Martin, which houses Cassiodorus’s tomb, and the sea pools that the monks once used for fish farming.

Cassiodorus’s Pools (6th Century A.D.)

The coastline of Copanello features a series of circular and oval pools, which are carved into the rock and bathed by the sea water. These basins were used for fish farming. The pools belonged to Cassiodorus’s Vivariense Monastery, which was founded around 555 A.D. The fish, enclosed in the pools by a system of grates that allowed for a continuous replenishment of sea water, were fed specially prepared food.

St. Gregory’s Grotto

St. Gregory’s Grotto is located in the middle of the Gulf of Squillace. It is a cavity that measures approximately 80 metres, carved into a granite rock, at a height of 2 metres above sea level, and approximately 10 metres from the shore. In ancient times it was known as Vulcano, then Palombaro and finally it was named St. Gregory. Its name has legendary origins: the monks from the St. Gregory convent recounted that between the 7th and 8th Centuries A.D. a lead coffin, carried across the sea, washed ashore on the beach below. The monks came down from the convent, recited prayers and once opened, the coffin was revealed to have contained the relics of St. Gregory.