Pizzo - CalabriaPizzo, also called Pizzo Calabro, is a seaport and comune in the province of Vibo Valentia (Calabria, southern Italy), situated on a steep cliff overlooking the Gulf of Santa Eufemia.
History: As with many other places in Calabria, an origin in the ancient Magna Graecia, Pizzo has claimed to have been founded by colonists from ancientMagna Grecia, but there is no documentary or archeologic evidence for this. Pizzo history begins with the documentation of the existence of the community of Basilian monks, a fort, and a fishing village since 1300. The name Pizzo (translated into bird's beak, projecting point) fits perfectly to the tuffa promontory that juts into the sea near the mouth of the river Angitola. For centuries, in the months of May and June, tuna was trapped in these beaches. Until the 1970s, in an area called Centofontane, was where nets were spread to corral tuna from offshore. Ruins of the activity remain. The activity is now banned. In the area Piedigrotta and Prangi there are some sea caves. The cave of the Saracen, crumbling today, supposedly was used by Saracen pirates as a repository of prey and people captured in raids. In the Aragonese castle of the town, Joachim Murat, former King of Naples and brother-in-law of Napoleon, was imprisoned for several days, and sentenced to death. He was killed by firing squad on October 13, 1815 in the main hall of the castle and was buried in the church of San Giorgio. Paradoxically, the Aragonese castle of Pizzo is called Castello Murat. Inside the castle there is the Provincial Museum Murat. In 1783 the town was almost destroyed by an earthquake, and it suffered some damage from the same cause in 1905. Main sights: It has an old castle, built by the Aragonese in the 15th century, in which Joachim Murat, ex-king of Naples, was shot on October 13, 1815. Other sights include the Baroque church of St. George (1632) and the cave church of Piedigrotta (17th century) Food: Pizzo is famous in the area for its Tartufo, a large ball of ice cream filled with molten chocolate. |
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