Pentedattilo-Calabrias ghost village

If you’re looking for a real Lost Place with breathtaking views of the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna, you’re in the right place

Blick auf die Ruinen Pentedattilos

In Reggio Calabria, we took the first step into the Greek world of Calabria. Now, step 2 follows. Over the next two days, we will visit three mountain villages where a Greek dialect is still spoken today. The first village on our route is just a 20-minute drive from Reggio and has a name that couldn’t be more Greek: Pentedatillo.

The name comes from the Greek words pente = five, daktilos = finger, so five fingers. The village got its name from the giant rock on which it was built, resembling a hand with five fingers.

We feel a very special energy here. It is quiet. The sun is shining, and you don’t want to disturb the peace. In the travel guide, Pentedatillo is described as a ghost village, which piqued my curiosity. Why a ghost village?

There is a small bar, the well-preserved church of Santi Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, and two (!) inhabited houses. However, most of the houses have already fallen into ruin. Real ruins, from which beautiful cacti are growing. Nevertheless, the small alleys are lovingly designed. Everywhere, there are phrases on the walls, flowers planted, and a small initiative that cares for the real inhabitants of the village: I gatti – the many cats. The atmosphere here is hard to describe. On one hand, you wonder why the village isn’t revived, and the houses rebuilt. On the other hand, it’s also clear that the actual attraction of this village is the village itself.

Pentedattilo, like many other villages in Calabria, has repeatedly been subjected to strong earthquakes, some of which were devastating. Many residents not only left the village, but, like many Calabrians, emigrated. Others, on the other hand, were relocated by the state, until it was eventually declared uninhabitable and a new village was built a few hundred meters away on the slope. A man who sells fruit at the entrance to the village (more for visitors than for the locals) also tells us about this. Today, Pentedattilo attracts a number of tourists each year, and the Pentedattilo Film Festival is also held here. So, is the rockslide really that bad?

Pentedattilo is located on the Sentiero dell'Inglese in the Aspromonte Mountains. This refers to the hiking trail that the English writer Edward Lear once traveled when he visited the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1847 and explored Greek Calabria on foot. Upon his arrival, he is said to have had the following impression of Pentedattilo

„at an elevated plateau whence the whole 'Toe of Italy' is finely discernible, a sea of undulating lines of varied forms down to the Mediterranean; a few towns glittered here and there, and towering over the southern extremity of land, a high cluster or rocks, the wild crags of Pentedátelo, particularly arrested our attention.“

• Would you like to know more about the Sentiero dell'Inglese trail in the Aspromonte Mountains? Then visit here: https://sentierodellinglese.wordpress.com/

  This describes a 6-day hike that runs through the heart of Greek Calabria. From Pentedattilo, through Roghudi, Galliciano, and ending in Bova. You will read about these villages in my upcoming articles.

  
  

After our visit to Pentedattilo, we feel almost relaxed, downshifting, as if we’ve been in another world. We continue our journey the same day to the next village, Galliciano, but the many impressions from our visit stay with us.

What Lost Places do you know? And what makes them special to you? I look forward to your comments!