Weekend in Belvedere Marittimo, the Lovers' Village

Do you know why Belvedere Marittimo is called the "Lovers' Village"? A historical event has linked Belvedere Marittimo, Saint Valentine and the Capuchin Convent for centuries.

Let's discover together why every year, on 14 February, lovers in Calabria make a pilgrimage to Belvedere Marittimo, in the province of Cosenza.

Also known as the "City of Love", as well as the "City of Art", the village of Belvedere Marittimo along the Tyrrhenian coast is one of the favourite Valentine's Day destinations for couples in love.

A visit to this delightful medieval village is doubly enchanting: the historic centre, perched on high ground, still preserves its medieval charm intact, while the landscape ranges from green hills to one of the most beautiful marinas of the Upper Tyrrhenian Cosenza.

If you too wish to visit the "City of Love" on the occasion of Valentine's Day, hurry up and book a hotel in Belvedere Marittimo, because 14 February in these parts is a particularly cherished date.

What links Belvedere Marittimo, Saint Valentine and lovers? To find out, take a step back in time.

It was 1595 when the first nucleus of the present Capuchin Convent was founded, at that time dedicated to Saint Daniel Fasanella, patron saint of Belvedere Marittimo. With the arrival of the Capuchin friars, i.e. for about three hundred years, the remains of Saint Valentine the bishop (the "Saint of the Lovers") have been kept inside this convent, in the so-called Porziuncola Chapel, as attested by an 18th-century papal letter:

"Holy blood with fragments of bones, taken from the body of Saint Valentine from the cemetery of Cyprian, were placed in a wooden urn tightly closed and tied with red silk thread and marked with the seal".

Since then, Belvedere Marittimo has been the custodian of the holy relics as well as a pilgrimage destination, on 14 February, for dozens of lovers: engaged couples, married couples celebrating their marriage or renewing their promise, very young people declaring their love for the first time.

What to do and see in Belvedere Marittimo? Plan your weekend as a couple by booking one of the many luxurious hotels in Belvedere Marittimo in good time, then proceed with your romantic sightseeing itinerary, which from the chapel dedicated to the "Saint of the Lovers" passes through the splendid historical-artistic testimonies of the Aragonese period, the town's most prosperous era.

For example, the redevelopment of the Belvedere Castle (an existing Norman stronghold), in a panoramic position overlooking the sea, and the two watchtowers: the Tower of Paolo Emilio and the Tower of Santa Litterata date back to this period.

The Tower of Santa Litterata rises in the seaside hamlet of the same name, which is recommended to be discovered on a couple's excursion, as it is characterised by a truly suggestive naturalistic scenery. It is here that the stretch of coastline running northwards from Belvedere Marittimo is characterised by the presence of marine terraces and yellow sands, in a suggestive alternation of clayey gullies.

A must for your Valentine's Day in Belvedere Marittimo is a fish dinner, by candlelight, in one of the many small restaurants along the coast, after admiring the sunset over the sea.

If you choose Belvedere Marittimo as your summer destination, the most romantic event of the year is "Note di Fuoco - Festival dell'Arte Pirotecnica", the three-day July event dedicated to fireworks over the sea.