Il Parco Nazionale del Pollino

Il Parco Nazionale del Pollino diventa una realtà nel 1993 con l'istituzione dell'Ente e nel 1994 con la costituzione degli organi di gestione.

The Pollino National Park

The Pollino National Park became a reality in 1993 with the establishment of the Entity and in 1994 with the establishment of the management bodies.

The territory is characterized by several mountain massifs located between the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Sea, among them we mention the Pollino Massif, the Orsomarso mountains and the Alps.
The Pollino Massif with the highest peaks of the Park: Serra Dolcedorme (2267 m), Mt. Pollino (2248 m), Serra del Prete (2181 m), Serra delle Ciavole (2127 m) and Serra di Crispo (2053 m). Between these last reliefs, at almost 2000 meters, there is the Grande Porta, a famous plateau from which the oldest specimens of Pino coricato stand out. In this area the Raganello, the Frido, the Peschiera and the Sarmento flow - whose waters dig very narrow gorges between the rocks. Other watercourses are located on the western side in the direction of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Here there are valleys carved by the following watercourses: Argentino, Abatemarco, Lao, Rosa.
Pollino's fauna and flora is among the most luxuriant in the southern part of Italy. In fact, the particular geographical position allows a great wealth of plant and animal species. Among the typical animal species we recall a particular ladybug with an ash-blue color with spots
black velvety, which lives on beech trees. There are numerous species of butterflies and we must remember a particular red and black spider with a painful and toxic bite, belonging to the same genus as the American black widow. Another poisonous species is the Vipera aspis. Among the birds we remember the falcon
Pilgrim, several specimens of woodpeckers, the golden eagle, the kite, the Egyptian vulture, the griffin, the eagle owl.
With regard to the Mammals, all the most significant species of the southern Apennines are represented. Among them: the wolf, the wild cat, the otter, the wild boar, the roe deer, the skunk, the dormouse, the squirrel, the porcupine, the hare.
The vegetation is diversified in altitudinal bands. In areas near the coast, up to 700-800 m, the Mediterranean scrub prevails with the presence of holm oak, juniper, myrtle, strawberry tree, oak, maple and common broom. On sandy and rocky bottoms, basically arid, there is a low and sparse vegetation called "gariga", consisting of species, sometimes aromatic as cistus, thyme, arboreal shrub.
Over 800 m up to 1100 m, in the above Mediterranean belt, dominate the different varieties of oaks, oak, oak, pine, hornbeam maple, chestnut, Neapolitan alder. Forest formations of extreme naturalistic importance are the acre of Monte Sparviero. In the mountain belt, up to almost 2000 m, the beech forest prevails. In the lower altitudes, beech is accompanied by holly and maple. and on the northern slope of the Park, the beech gives rise to the particular association with the white fir. Also on the southern slope appears the black pine up to 1700 m. What distinguishes and makes unique the mountain vegetation and the high mountain of Pollino and the loricato pine, emblem of the Park. it up to 2200 m, on the peaks of the Pollino and drops exceptionally up to 550 m in the south-western side of the Park. The bark of this conifer is light gray, especially in young plants, hence the name "leucodermis"; in the adult specimens the bark is fissured in irregular plates, so-called "loriche", which recall the ancient Roman armor. During its millennial life, it can reach a height of 40 meters and a diameter of over one meter. in spring when the snow melts appear extensive prairies rich in mountain yarrow, gentian major, mountain asphodel, wild narcissus, greater saffron (crocus), ranunculus, and various species of orchids. There are also lots of medicinal and medicinal plants.

La città di Sibari

Nei secoli successivi le continue alluvioni e i movimenti bradisismici hanno trascinato le vestigia di quella illustre e ricca città a più di 5 metri di profondità. Solo quindici secoli dopo la sua scomparsa si è riusciti a individuare il sito delle tre città e finalmente a portare alla luce reperti importanti di quelle epoche storiche. Gli scavi archeologici, che ancora molto hanno da rivelare, danno al visitatore un’idea del passato illustre di questo sito.  

Sybaris

Magna Greece was the name of the geographical area of ​​the southern Italian peninsula that was formerly colonized by the Greeks from the 8th century BC Sibari was the oldest Greek colony of the so-called "achee" colonies, ie the first Hellenic population that invaded Greece in the 2nd millennium BC.
Sibari stood in a site characterized by a particularly fertile plain. The city soon increased its wealth, thanks also to trade relations with the eastern Mediterranean and to the exploitation of the resources of a large territory.
Sybaris at the height of its power controlled, according to Strabo, an ancient Greek geographer, a broad dominion. He founded other colonies in southern Italy, such as Metaponto placed on the Gulf of Sybaris, and, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Poseidonia (Paestum) in present-day Campania.
The Sybaritids were ruled by an aristocracy of landowners, in strong competition within themselves for the control of power in the city and its vast territory. The fame of their wealth and their lifestyle was widespread throughout the Greek world of the time.
From a political point of view, Sibari was an oligarchy that, due to the competitive character that characterized it, entered into crisis, experimenting in the second half of the sixth century BC. both the tyranny, and the spread of some political-philosophical doctrines that aimed at the reform of the state. It was precisely these two factors, and in particular the expulsion of a group of Pythagorean aristocrats in the city of Crotone (home of Pythagoras and his followers) to cause war with the latter. Crotone won and Sibari was destroyed. Later the descendants of the ancient inhabitants managed to get the help of Athens and other settlers from all over Greece to re-establish Sibari. The new city arose with the same name on the former site, which had never been completely abandoned.

The descendants of the ancient Sybaritids claimed to have political control of the city. This led to a serious conflict following which the old Sibaritids were killed by the newcomers and the few survivors were forced to flee. The winners founded a new city, the Panhellenic colony of Thurii, which managed to maintain its independence until 282 BC. when Lucani and Brettii obtained an armed garrison from Rome. Sibari-Thurii after participating in the Punic Wars against the Carthaginians of Hannibal and alongside the Romans became the seat of a Roman military colony named for the occasion Copy (abundance). Copia became a Roman municipality around 88 B.C. and had his own coins. The name Little by little was omitted and the city was later named with the former name of Thurii Latinized in Thurium.
In the following centuries the continuous floods and the bradyseismic movements dragged the vestiges of that illustrious and rich city to more than 5 meters of depth. Only fifteen centuries after its disappearance has it been possible to identify the site of the three cities and finally to bring to light important findings of those historical periods. The archaeological excavations, which still have much to reveal, give the visitor an idea of ​​the illustrious past of this site.

Sybaris

Sybaris était une ville de la Magna Grecia sur la mer lonienne, avec vue sur le golfe de Tarante, entre les rivières Crati et Coscile, actuellement rèuni à environ 5Km de la mer, mais une fois avec indépendente des foyers. Aujourd'hui est un fraction de la ville de Cassano à la mer Ionienne et est basé sur une économie principalement touristique.

L'actuelle Sybaris, fut édifiée dans les années 1960 à la suite de travaux d'assainissement que le gouvernement finança le long de l'embouchure du Crati, en assainissant la plaine de Sibari, la plus grande de la Calabre. Sibari a une population d'environ 5000 habitants et est toujours une "località" de la commune de Cassano à la mer Ionienne, malgré ses tentatives sans résultat pour obtenir une existence communale distincte. Sibari connaît un important développement  touristique, balnéaire et culturel. Son agricolture produit des agrumes, des olives et du riz.            
 

Magna Graecia

In 597 AD the city was attacked and destroyed by the Lombards who settled in Cassano. The archaeological excavations give the visitors an idea of the past of this site.