Scilla: Chianalea, Ruffo Castle and the beaches of the Costa Viola

Scilla clings to a rock at the southern end of the Costa Viola, where the Tyrrhenian narrows into the Strait of Messina. The town splits into three parts that face each other but keep different rhythms: Chianalea, the fishermen’s quarter with houses built at the water’s edge; Marina Grande, the wide beach below the castle; San Giorgio, the upper quarter around Piazza San Rocco.

In between, on the spur that separates the beach from the old quarter, stands Ruffo Castle, which took the name of the family that lived there from 1533 and today hosts exhibitions and one of the navy’s lighthouses. From its terrace the Sicilian coast looks close enough to touch.

Here the myth of the Odyssey has a precise address: Scylla on the Calabrian rock, Charybdis in the eddies off Messina. And here swordfish are still caught from the passerelle, boats with a long gangway at the bow and a lookout mast for spotting.

Ruffo Castle and the San Giorgio quarter

Ruffo Castle sits on the rocky spur that splits the town in two: Marina Grande beach on one side, the lanes of Chianalea on the other. Since the 1970s the castle has worked as a cultural centre hosting exhibitions and talks, while a navy lighthouse still operates at the top. Admission costs 2 euros, and it is free for children up to ten and for visitors over seventy.

Below the castle lies Piazza San Rocco, the heart of the San Giorgio quarter, the upper part of town where the town hall stands and where houses climb the slope. A few steps from the rock is the mother church of the Immacolata, recognisable by the white Ionic columns on its front. Down in Marina Grande stands the sixteenth-century church of the Spirito Santo: it is the only building in town left standing after the earthquakes of 1783 and 1908, and it holds the Descent of the Holy Spirit painted by Francesco Celebrano in 1779.

Chianalea, the fishermen’s village on the water

Chianalea is the oldest part of Scilla and runs north of the castle for a few hundred metres. The houses are built straight onto the shoreline: their foundations sit in the water, the walls carry salt stains, and back doors open onto small stairways down to the sea, where boats are moored a few metres from the threshold. Between the buildings run lanes barely two people wide, which locals call scale, combing down from the road towards the water.

The comparison with Venice is the one you hear most often, and this is where it comes from: there are no canals, but there is a water street, and it is the sea. In one walk you pass the church of San Giuseppe, a couple of tiny landings, nets left out to dry and a row of restaurants with decks suspended over the water that stay busy late in summer.

Marina Grande, the sea and the light of the Costa Viola

Marina Grande is Scilla’s main beach and fills the whole bay south of the castle: dark sand mixed with gravel, a seabed that slopes gently for the first few metres, and a pedestrian promenade running its full length. There are lidos with sunbeds and umbrellas as well as wide free stretches, so you can find a spot with just a towel from home.

Ahead lies the Strait of Messina, barely more than ten kilometres wide at this point: you can see the Sicilian coast, the ferries shuttling across and, on clear days, the outline of Etna. The name Costa Viola comes from the colour the water takes at sunset, when the sun drops behind the Aeolian Islands and the sea turns violet for a handful of minutes.

The myth of Scylla and Charybdis

In Book Twelve of the Odyssey, Circe warns Odysseus that to clear the passage between the two lands he will have to choose between two dangers facing the same stretch of water. On one side Scylla, the monster lodged in the rock, snatching sailors from ships that pass too close; on the other Charybdis, the whirlpool that swallows and spits the sea back three times a day. Odysseus sails under the rock and loses six companions: hence the saying still used today for two evils with no way out.

The geography behind the story is concrete. The Strait of Messina is a funnel where two seas with offset tides meet: currents change direction several times a day, whirlpools and cold upwellings form, and for a rowed boat the crossing really was a trial.

Swordfish, the passerelle boats and the local table

Swordfish fishing in the Strait is the reason Chianalea looks the way it does. The boats are called passerelle: they carry a gangway some twenty metres long jutting from the bow, along which the harpooner moves, and a very tall lattice mast from which a spotter scans the surface for a fin. It is fishing done one fish at a time, and by law it runs only from 1 May to 30 September.

At the table swordfish appears in every form: thick slices over embers, alla ghiotta with tomato, capers and olives, or rolled into involtini of thin slices stuffed with breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley. At the kiosks on the seafront and in the shops of Chianalea it also comes in a sandwich, with salmoriglio or with ’nduja.

Getting to Scilla and where to park

By car you arrive on the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway, Scilla exit, which reaches the town in a few minutes; the next exit south is Santa Trada, handy for the Villa San Giovanni coast. Reggio Calabria is about thirty kilometres away and Villa San Giovanni about ten, so the ferry berths for Messina are a quarter of an hour by road.

By train Scilla has its own station on the Tyrrhenian line between Battipaglia and Reggio Calabria, served by regional trains and a few long-distance services. The station sits in the upper part of town: from there it is a short walk downhill to Marina Grande. The nearest airport is Reggio Calabria, around 30 kilometres away; Lamezia Terme, with far more connections, is about 105 kilometres by motorway.

Chianalea is a restricted traffic zone and cars do not enter: you leave the vehicle outside and continue on foot. From mid-May to the end of September parking is paid in the Marina Grande and Chianalea areas; the station car park, higher up, is the simplest option on August days, when the lower town fills early.

What to see around Scilla

Scilla lies at one end of the Costa Viola, the stretch of shore between Palmi and Villa San Giovanni where the mountain drops to the sea with almost no plain in between. Northwards the first stop is Bagnara Calabra, another fishing town with a long beach and the tradition of the bagnarote, the women who carried and sold the catch. Just before it comes Favazzina, with its pebble beach closed in by headlands.

Above the coast runs the Tracciolino path, the old ridge road linking Scilla and Bagnara to the terraced vineyards held up by dry-stone walls: it is the walk to take if you want to understand how steep this coast really is. Southwards, half an hour by car or train, you reach Reggio Calabria, where the National Archaeological Museum holds the Riace Bronzes and the seafront looks across at Sicily from even closer range.

Where to stay: holiday homes in Scilla and on the Costa Viola

Scilla is at its best once the day trippers have left: in the evening the seafront empties, the lights of Chianalea come on over the water and the town returns to its own pace. To experience it that way you need to sleep here or a few minutes away, and a holiday home is the format that works best: your own kitchen for the fish bought in the morning, no fixed schedules, room for more than two.

Our homes on the Costa Viola, between Scilla, Bagnara and Palmi, range from one-bedroom flats for couples to apartments with several rooms for families and groups, many of them a short walk from the beach. From here the Strait, the Aspromonte and Reggio Calabria are all day-trip distance. Check availability for your dates and send us a direct enquiry: we will help you choose the right home for your stay.

Frequently asked questions about Scilla

How much does it cost to enter Ruffo Castle in Scilla?
The standard ticket costs 2 euros. Entry is free for children up to ten and for visitors over seventy.

Can you reach Scilla by train?
Yes. Scilla has a station on the Tyrrhenian line between Battipaglia and Reggio Calabria, served by regional trains. The station is in the upper part of town and it is a short walk downhill to the beach.

Where do you park in Scilla in August?
The Marina Grande and Chianalea areas are paid parking from mid-May to the end of September and fill up early. The station car park, higher up, remains the easiest option.

When is the feast of San Rocco in Scilla?
The patron saint is celebrated on 16 August and the festivities carry on for several days, with processions through Chianalea, Marina Grande and San Giorgio and fireworks over the sea.

When is the best time to visit Scilla?
June and September: the sea is already or still warm, the town is lively without being congested, and finding space on the beach and in the street is far easier than in July and August.

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