Guardavalle

A lunar landscape, with warm tones and bright green hues, the Guardavalle badlands and beach constitute a Site of Community Importance (SCI), chosen every year by Caretta Caretta turtles for nesting. Their hatching is one of the most exciting events of late summer. A few minutes' drive away are the crystal clear waters of Pietracupa Lake, in the mountain hamlet of the same name in Guardavalle (ancient Elce della Vecchia), and the nearby Assi Torrent Waterfalls.

Once in the historic centre, we discover the little gems hidden among the alleys of Guardavalle: belvederes and historic buildings dating from the 16th to 19th centuries (Falletti, Spedalieri, Sirleto, Salerno, Criniti, etc.), the Triumphal Arch in Piazza del Carmine (erected in memory of a victory over Saracen pirates), but above all the ruins of the unfinished Basilica of San Carlo Borromeo, dedicated to one of the most influential cardinals of the Catholic Church, whose name is linked to Guardavalle because of the family that gave birth to another illustrious cardinal in the 16th century, Guglielmo Sirleto, a figure surrounded by legends.

Other buildings not to be missed are the Mother Church dedicated to the Rosary and St. Agazio Martyr, patron saint of Guardavalle and protagonist of a great spring festival, and the Church of Carmine, inside which you can admire the only example of a frescoed dome from the 17th century in Calabria that is still intact.