Discover Civita: Raganello Gorge and Culture

A holiday apartment in Civita gives you access to a place where natural landscapes and cultural history exist closely side by side. Civita lies within the Gole del Raganello nature reserve and at the same time in the heart of a national park. This makes the municipality interesting for you if, during your holiday, you are looking for more than just accommodation and want to combine landscapes, historic buildings and distinctive local traditions.

Raganello Gorge and Ponte del Diavolo

The Gole del Raganello begin at an altitude of 750 metres near the Lamia spring and end after 13 kilometres near Ponte del Diavolo. The Raganello Valley is a deeply cut river valley with rock walls more than 100 metres high. These dimensions alone give the surroundings a distinctly different character from an ordinary walking area: the landscape is defined by the river, gorge and steep rock walls.

The single-arch, humpback donkey bridge Ponte del Diavolo spans the Raganello at 260 metres above sea level. It is considered one of the area’s most important attractions and a good vantage point. Canyoning and river trekking can be undertaken in the Gole del Raganello. The Raganello Valley is also considered suitable for birdwatching. Species found here include golden eagles, peregrine falcons, kestrels and Egyptian vultures. This gives your travel planning a broad range of options, from impressive landscapes and active pursuits to close observation of nature.

Churches, Stone Buildings and Arbëreshe Traditions

The culture of Civita can also be explored through specific details. The Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta was built in the mid-17th century and has a late Baroque interior. In 1988, the Latin altar was replaced by an iconostasis made of walnut and olive wood. The twelve icons on the entablature come from an iconographic school in Athens and were painted by Ernesto Kominos in 1992.

The Cappella della Consolazione dates from the 16th century. Civita also has archaeological remains of human settlements from the Bronze Age at the sites of Mater Chiesa and Palmanocera. Ruins of Byzantine chapels can be found in the districts of Piano di San Martino, Spirito Santo and Piano della Chiesa. The visible history of the town thus extends from very early settlement traces to later religious buildings.

In Civita’s historic centre, the houses are built entirely of stone. A distinctive form of settlement structure is the “gjitonia”: it refers to a microstructure with a small square where the lanes converge. Arbëreshe houses also feature a large fireplace called a “vatra”. It consists of a large hood with a hanging oven. Civita therefore becomes tangible for you not only through individual sights, but also through the arrangement of the lanes, the construction methods and the traditions of domestic life.

A Place for Different Holiday Interests

Castello di Kruja is a replica of the castle of Kruja in Albania, built in 2000. It houses an art gallery with paintings about Civita and the Arbëreshe ethnic group. Today, Castello di Kruja serves as a congress centre and offers an impressive view of the Raganello.

If the gorge, river and birdwatching are the focus, your interests lead in a different direction than on days shaped by churches, settlement history and Arbëreshe architectural culture.

More destinations

More destinations: Frascineto, Castrovillari, Scalea, Marina Schiavonea, Cittadella Del Capo, Malito, Fiumefreddo Bruzio and Villapiana Lido.

For the higher-level travel overview: Cosenza.