Pointing directly towards Sicily, Calabria comprises the slender toe of Italy's boot. Greek Sicilians braved the whirlpool waters of the Strait of Messina to inhabit the untamed lands, founding Reggio Calabria where, in 1972, the Bronzi di Riace, two bronze statues thought to be at least 2,500 years old, mysteriously appeared on the shores. Calabria's original settlers also created Crotone, developing the region's first, and still only, Ionian port, and also where Pythagoras established his Society in 508 BC.

Capital city Catanzaro once supplied the finest lace and linens to the Vatican, and from here beautiful beaches stretch both north and south. Remote, inland villages are settled in mountains of elemental appeal. Terrible and periodic earthquakes have slowly reduced some of the region's monuments to rubble, but Gerace still preserves a huge, Romanesque cathedral, and Rossano's cathedral is a fine example of Byzantine sensibilities. The medieval city centres of Cosenza and Pizzo seem lost in time, and the region's legends include the six-headed beast of Scilla, which took delight in drowning sailors attempting to cross the strait.