サンロレンツォデルヴァッロのおすすめツーリングルート

A rather characteristic and beautiful place that can be visited throughout the year. The dam has beautiful vegetation with various species of birds. Furthermore, traffic from the dam to Cantinella Corigliano is limited, good for bicycles...

Excellent and always very fresh water

Today, the Fiat 500 is one of the most photographed classic cars in the world. The first versions had a two-cylinder engine with a capacity of just 479 cm³ and a power of… 13 HP! And yet the car could reach speeds of over 80 km/h – with a tailwind and a light driver 😉

The Fiat 500 is a moving reminder of Italy's past, and the Altomonte is a permanent reminder of its history. Both are small, but big in their own way. The Altomonte is squeezed into the green hills of Calabria like the Cinquecento into the narrow streets of Naples.

The best time to visit Saracena is in spring (April-June) and autumn (September-October). During these months, the weather is mild, perfect for hiking and cycling around the area – temperatures are usually between 15-25°C. The landscape is at its most beautiful then – in spring, olive groves and fruit trees bloom, in autumn the area takes on warm colours and the grape harvest begins. In winter, it can be cold and rainy, and there can be snow in the mountains around Saracena, making it difficult to move around. Summer, on the other hand, can be hot (even well over 30°C), which can make longer cycling trips or sightseeing difficult.

The cuisine of Saracena clearly shows traces of Arab influence. Local ingredients include almonds, figs, cinnamon, anise, dried grapes and honey. An example is the traditional cannariculi cake, fried in olive oil and seasoned with cloves and citrus peel.

Here Moscato di Saracena is made - a wine that was included in the list of traditional products of the Calabria region in 2010. It is made in small batches according to a local technique that combines the fermentation of fresh must (from the Guarnaccia and Malvasia varieties) with the addition of dried grapes (Moscatello di Saracena and Addoraca). This process has no equivalent in other regions of Italy. The grapes are dried traditionally on mats or grills. The entire production is done by hand, without industrial techniques. The wine has an intense aroma of dried apricots, spices and honey.

Saracena is a mountain town in northern Calabria, located at an altitude of about 600 m above sea level, in the province of Cosenza, at the foot of the Pollino massif. The name of the town comes from the Saracens - Arab settlers who came to Calabria in the 9th century. The town is built in the "kasbah" system - dense development, narrow streets, irregular plan, houses placed wall to wall. This is a structure characteristic of Islamic cities, adapted to climatic and defensive conditions.