The villages of the Strait: a journey among depopulated and rediscovered towns

Between the Strait of Messina and the mountains of the Ionian Aspromonte lies a constellation of villages that mark the landscape even more than the sea itself: towns perched on sandstone crags, some still inhabited, others turned into silent ruins after floods and earthquakes. This is where you find Pentedattilo, the village on the hand-shaped rock, and Bova, the capital of Greek Calabria, both already covered by dedicated guides on this site.

But the Strait also holds lesser-known towns that deserve to be discovered with the same respect: Africo Vecchio, swallowed by vegetation after the 1951 flood; Roccaforte del Greco, one of the province’s highest municipalities, still alive on its ridge; Pietrapennata, a semi-abandoned hamlet of Palizzi tied to the tradition of the Knights of Malta. This guide lines them up as stages of a single story about the meaning of inhabiting — and abandoning — the Calabrian mountains.

Why the Strait has so many depopulated villages

In the mountainous hinterland between the Strait of Messina and the Locride, dozens of towns grew up clinging to crags and ridges, in defensible positions far from a sea once threatened by raids. For centuries this choice protected the communities; in the 20th century it proved a curse. The fiumare flowing down from the Aspromonte — wide, almost always dry gravel beds — turn into raging torrents after the autumn rains, and more than one village was built right above their unstable banks. Floods, landslides and earthquakes struck this area repeatedly over the last century, pushing entire communities to move elsewhere, often to the coast.

That is how the ghost villages of the Strait and the Ionian Aspromonte were born: towns abandoned not through slow emigration, as elsewhere in Calabria, but by forced-relocation decisions after a precise, datable disaster. Pentedattilo, Bova, Roghudi Vecchio, Africo Vecchio: each village has its own story, but all share the same fate of towns left to the elements, today destinations for a slow tourism of walking, photography and memory. This page brings them together and links them, before telling of three lesser-known but equally authentic places.

Pentedattilo: the village on the five-fingered rock

Half an hour from Reggio Calabria, in the hinterland of Melito di Porto Salvo, Pentedattilo takes its name from the Greek pente daktylos, five fingers: the sandstone crag behind it opens into five pinnacles resembling a hand reaching for the sky. Abandoned after centuries of life due to earthquakes and landslides, it remained a ghost town for decades before coming back to life thanks to artisans, artists and a film festival that made it a rare, unique case in southern Italy. The legend of the Alberti massacre still lingers over the crag: the night in 1686 when, according to tradition, an entire family was wiped out over love and power. The full guide to Pentedattilo tells its story, its restored alleys and how to plan a visit.

Bova: the capital of Greek Calabria

Perched at almost 900 metres on the hills of the Ionian Aspromonte, Bova is the historic capital of Greek Calabria, the area where the Greek of Calabria studied by linguist Gerhard Rohlfs still survives. Unlike the ghost villages of this page, Bova is fully inhabited and belongs to the “Italy’s most beautiful villages” club: a Norman castle, cathedral, churches and noble palaces make it one of the most complete destinations in the Reggio hinterland. It is also the most natural gateway to the area’s other Greek-speaking villages — Gallicianò, Roghudi, Condofuri — covered in the dedicated Greek-Calabrian Area guide. The full guide to Bova explores its history, language and visiting itinerary.

Africo Vecchio: the town swallowed by the flood

In the heart of the Ionian Aspromonte, amid thick vegetation and steep slopes, lie the ruins of Africo Vecchio. The town, of ancient Greek-Byzantine origins — Basilian monks were probably already present here in the 10th century — was devastated by the flood of 14-18 October 1951, after already being struck by the earthquakes of 1905 and 1908. Together with nearby Casalnuovo, Africo was declared unsafe and its inhabitants relocated, first to temporary accommodation and then to the newly built Africo Nuovo, on the coast. Today what remains are crumbling walls and arches of bourgeois houses swallowed by Mediterranean scrub, along with the church of San Nicola and the old schoolhouse, among the few relatively preserved structures. The village can only be reached on foot, along a trekking trail within the Aspromonte National Park, and is loved by hikers and photographers: a place to visit with the right shoes and no hurry, rather than a stop to tick off by car.

Roccaforte del Greco: the town on the highest ridge

Unlike the ghost villages of this guide, Roccaforte del Greco is a living municipality: at almost 1,000 metres, on the southern slope of the Aspromonte, it is one of the highest inhabited centres in the entire metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria. Its residents, today just a few hundred against the over one thousand recorded in the mid-19th century, still keep the town’s Greek name, Vunì, evidence of the same Greek-speaking heritage that characterises Bova and the Greek-Calabrian Area. It is a village of stone houses clustered around a scenic ridge, with views reaching the Ionian Sea on clear days: a stop that shows the opposite face to the abandoned towns — that of a small community still rooted in its mountain.

Pietrapennata: the semi-abandoned hamlet of the Knights of Malta

A hamlet of Palizzi at around 670 metres, at the foot of Monte Punta di Gallo, Pietrapennata is a small, semi-abandoned village that oral tradition links to the Knights of Malta — hence the nickname of its inhabitants, the martisi. In the lower part of the settlement you can still see the ruins of ancient dwellings built with local breccia, the mottled stone typical of Palizzi. Not far away rises the Rocca di Sant’Ippolito, a rock face some twenty metres high now a destination for sport climbing, while about two kilometres away stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Lica, linked by tradition to a statue that arrived from Sicily before the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In the 19th century the English painter Edward Lear visited these places, describing one of the most stupendous panoramas he had ever seen. Today Pietrapennata is a stop for those seeking a less-trodden Aspromonte, amid ruins, climbing and silence.

Frequently asked questions

Are Roghudi Vecchio and Gallicianò covered on this page?
Yes, but only in passing: their story, along with that of the Dragon Rock and the Grecanico language, is told in depth in the dedicated Greek-Calabrian Area guide, which this page links to.

Can Africo Vecchio be visited by car?
No: the village can only be reached on foot, with a short trek inside the Aspromonte National Park. Suitable footwear is needed, and in summer it is best to set off in the cooler hours.

What is the difference between Bova and Bova Marina?
Bova is the historic village perched at almost 900 metres, capital of Greek Calabria; Bova Marina is the separate coastal municipality on the Ionian Sea, further downhill: the two should not be confused.

Is Roccaforte del Greco still inhabited?
Yes: unlike the other villages on this page, Roccaforte del Greco is a living municipality, albeit with very few residents, and is one of the highest towns in the province of Reggio Calabria.

What is the best way to visit these villages starting from Reggio Calabria?
It is best to plan several separate day trips by car, since the mountain roads are narrow and travel times longer than expected: one day for Pentedattilo, another for Bova and the Greek-Calabrian Area, a third for Roccaforte del Greco and Pietrapennata towards Palizzi.

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