Serre Regional Park

Between Aspromonte and Sila lies the Regional Natural Park of Serre, with about 18,000 hectares spread over the provinces of Catanzaro, Vibo Valentia and Reggio Calabria.
The Park was established in 1990 and became a protected natural area in 2004, with the aim of preserving and enhancing the natural heritage, consisting of physical, biological and geomorphological formations which, together with the anthropogenic elements, make up a unique primary asset.
The geography of the area has preserved the natural ecosystem thanks to the presence of several mountains, set against each other, carved by steep and sinuous gorges, thus preserving an optimal state of maintenance.
The Serre landscape constitutes one of the most multiform forest complexes in Calabria, thanks to the characterisation of slopes and reliefs covered by vast extensions of forest.
The park is traversed by two long, opposing mountain ranges: that of Monte Covello, with peaks just over 800 metres high, and that of Monte Pecoraro, which boasts the highest peak at around 1400 metres.
The Serre consists mainly of mountains covered by large, wild and evocative forests, including the Bosco di Stilo, which was once a famous hunting reserve of the Bourbon kings. The park is criss-crossed by numerous watercourses that create spectacular waterfalls, the most imposing of which is the Marmarico waterfall in the municipality of Bivongi, while other equally enchanting waterfalls, albeit of lesser heights, are found along the other watercourses of the Serre, giving rise to intensely evocative natural architecture. Among the latter is the Pietra Cupa waterfall on the fiumara Assi di Guardavalle, which with a very rapid slide of more than 15 metres runs along a smooth rock face overhung by twisted and gigantic trees until it reaches a large lake surrounded by bushes and shrubs.

Very suggestive is the WWF Oasis of Lake Angitola, where it is possible to take walks in a breathtaking panorama, offering the view of the lake set in the lush green of the forest.
Walking through the woods and forests of the park, among the chestnut, larch pine, alder, beech, silver fir, holm oak, white poplar and maple trees, it is possible to spot wild boar, foxes, badgers, wild cats, Haflinger and Morgue horses, mouflon, fallow deer, deer, roe deer, weasels, beech martens and various birds, including the grey heron, pheasants, peacocks, raven, titmouse, hoopoe and the rare black woodpecker: the grey heron, pheasants, peacocks, the raven, the titmouse, the hoopoe, or the rare black woodpecker.
The most important faunal aspect of the Serre Park is the presence of the wolf, a representative species that has chosen and reconquered the territory after decades of absence. Equally rare and important is the presence of the porcupine, as well as the wild cat, another fundamental protagonist of the Serre fauna.

In addition to the natural beauties and the many ecological-naturalistic itineraries in the park, there are places of worship of considerable importance, such as the centuries-old Carthusian Monastery of Serra San Bruno, one of the few still in activity, the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Bosco and the tomb of the founder of the Carthusian Order, St Bruno of Cologne, also in Serra San Bruno, as well as evidence of industrial archaeology from the Bourbon era.