Dense vegetation now fills the naturally reclaimed land between the clifftop old town of Tropea, on the Tyrrhenian Sea western coast of Calabria, southern Italy, and the rocky promontory, once an island, bearing the Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola, rebuilt many times on the site of an early Christian monastery.
Tropea, Calabria, Italy: the Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola, built on a rocky promontory lapped by the Tyrrhenian Sea, stands on a site sacred since the 4th century AD, when it bore an early Christian monastery. At that time, the promontory was an island completely separated from the sandstone cliffs bearing Tropea old town. Over the centuries, silt and sediment filled the gap and the promontory is now connected to the mainland by a stretch of fertile land dense with vegetation. The early history of the monastery is unclear, but by the 7th century it was probably already occupied by Greek Basilian monks. They built a simple church here in the 9th century, which was taken over by Benedictines after the 11th century Norman conquest of southern Italy. Since then, the church has been destroyed and rebuilt to new designs several times, especially after earthquakes in 1783 and 1905. The iconic rebuilt sanctuary now standing on the rock, the symbol of Tropea, is reached only by a long flight of steps. Tropea has a picturesque historic centre filled with former palaces and wayside shrines. It shares the cliffs with the old town, a tight-packed mixture of stone-built houses and apartments divided by streets and alleys ending in balconies and belvederes offering superb panoramic views. The smoking cone of Stromboli, one of Italy’s three active volcanoes, can be seen on clear days amidst the other Aeolian Islands. Tropea is a holiday resort, popular particularly with Italians and Germans. Its fine sandy beaches lie on the Costa degli Dei (Coast of the Gods) and it is now marketed as “The Pearl of the Mediterranean”. Its reputation was much enhanced when it won the 2021 ‘Borgo dei Borghi’ (Village of the Villages) national contest, an annual award for the most beautiful village in Italy.
Size: 4197px × 2793px
Location: Tropea, Calabria, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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