Holiday apartment in Motta San Giovanni – Discover history and trails

Motta San Giovanni combines a historic townscape with archaeological evidence and a stage of the Cammino Basiliano. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Motta San Giovanni, you can base your choice of location on historical discoveries, the character of the centre and a distinctive connection to the trail. For those interested in culture, archaeological traces, museum finds and historic buildings are the main attractions.

Holiday apartment in Motta San Giovanni: discover historic districts

The historic centre preserves several clearly distinguishable areas. The medieval area is Quartiere Suso, around the castle. In the oldest part of the centre, the original urban layout with narrow lanes has been preserved. The buildings’ ordinary masonry and roofs with interlocking tiles shape the building typology there. To the east of the older area lies Quartiere Praci; this part dates from the 18th and 19th centuries.

For a tour through the history of the architecture, several notable individual monuments are the main points of interest. The Chiesa della confraternita del Leandro is an old Byzantine religious building that was already fully functional from the second half of the 17th century. The Castello di Sant'Aniceto is also known as Castello di San Niceto. It is a rare example of High Medieval architecture in Calabria and was built in the first half of the 11th century.

Archaeology and local history around Leucopetra

The Area Archeologica Leucopetra preserves visible remains of a pseudo-circular kiln from the 5th century and a small burial ground with grave goods. In addition, the Museo Civico Archeologico Antiquarium Leucopetra displays archaeological finds from the Motta San Giovanni area. They bear witness to Greek, Roman and later settlements in the municipality. In June 2019, the museum was officially recognised as a museum of regional interest.

The Area Archeologica Leucopetra includes removable walkways for people with disabilities, a reception area with a ticket office, an information point, toilets, lighting, video surveillance and information boards in Braille. Tourist road signage is also provided.

Cammino Basiliano and views of the Strait of Messina

Anyone wishing to include hiking in their travel plans will find a clearly described connection in the Motta San Giovanni–Armo stage: it begins in Motta San Giovanni and ends in Armo. On this stage, the Strait of Messina is almost fully visible.

Getting there and planning suitable accommodation

The SS 106, the Ionica railway line to Lazzaro station followed by a bus connection, and the Autolinee Tripodi bus service between Reggio Calabria, Motta San Giovanni and Lazzaro lead to the historic centre. When choosing your holiday apartment, you can take these travel routes into account as well as your preferred combination of narrow old-town lanes, archaeological finds, religious architecture and hiking.

Discover more destinations

Bruzzano Zeffirio, Villa San Giovanni, Roccella Ionica, San Lorenzo, Bovalino Marina, Spropolo, Bivongi and Marina Di Caulonia

For the overarching travel overview: Reggio Calabria.