Calabria is historically a land of emigration. For many years it has seen the inland villages empty out, in a slow process of abandonment. For some time now, this trend seems to have been reversed: many young people have returned to their roots, renewing ancient trades and inventing new lifestyles, in the sign of "slow Calabria".
If you want a slow holiday in Calabria, the authentic villages have a lot to offer. From the small towns reborn around the ancient Byzantine art of silk (San Floro, CZ, and Mendicino, CS), to the villages where "good living" is practised and people live for a hundred years, as in Bivongi, the "Longevity Village" (RC), passing through the "villages of hospitality" (Riace, RC) and those revitalised by foreigners who have chosen them as their "buen retiro" (Badolato, CZ).
Small jewels set in the Calabrian Apennines have been reborn thanks to the accommodation solution of "hotel villages" (Buonvicino, CS) that welcome you as a true "temporary inhabitant", an integral part of the community and its slow-paced life.
Finally, slow Calabria awaits with open arms the new generations of emigrant children, the protagonists of so-called "return tourism", to tell them about the roots and experiences of grandparents and great-grandparents who were forced to leave their homeland forever.