The ancient Roman road that passes through Ferruzzano

Where is the Roman road of Ferruzzano.

We are in Saccuti, a hamlet of Ferruzzano now abandoned (except for a few brave and resilient souls). We set out with our guides Santo and Orlando toward the old fountain and the locality Schiavuni. It is here that we enter the "Strata Cunsulari," an ancient road from Roman times: a paved long-distance road that descended from Locri, led toward Bruzzano and then toward Reggio.

Why it is special: dug into the rock

This road was dug into the rock for about 150 meters, perhaps in much earlier times. It remained in use until the 1950s: it was traveled by donkeys, who carried their loads in "còfine" (wicker baskets). Maintenance of the paved road was the responsibility of local families: back then the sense of the common good was strong, Orlando comments. Nature around us is lush. Santo points out the plants and their healing properties: viscose innula, heather, nepetella, lentisk, thorny broom... The only sounds, other than our voices, are of sheep and birds and, in the distance, a few cowbells, a few voices. Noises of traffic? None.

Not to be missed: the rock palments.

As in the whole territory of Ferruzzano, there are rock palmenti along the Strata Consulari: millennia-old vats dug into the rock, in which grapes were pressed and must was collected (our guide, Prof. Orlando Sculli, counted about 160 in Ferruzzano alone!). We meet the first millstone almost immediately, hidden among the cork oaks; further on, in the locality of Santa Dominica, there is another one, majestic and on display, overlooking an unforgettable panorama.

A bit of history: Ancient Rome, Magna Graecia, prehistory

How to give an age to what we see? Orlando sets out to search among the grass and rubble and finds a small reddish shard, which he gives us as a gift. Even today it is easy to find fragments of amphorae and embrici (tiles) in the vicinity of the Santa Dominica millstone: they reveal to us the presence of a Greek settlement in the 6th-5th centuries B.C. But Santo and Orlando also point out another clue, invisible to our eyes: what tools were used to excavate the rock? If the rock carvings are long and straight, it means they are made with iron tools and date back to the Neolithic period. If they are short, diagonal carvings, it means they are made with stone tools (the chopper and mace) and date back to the Lower Paleolithic. In the oldest artifacts, time has erased all traces of the carvings and smoothed out the corners. It is extraordinary to learn how to read history in nature, and our gratitude is great!

Curiosity: the invisible appearing

Speaking of the invisible before our eyes, Santo and Orlando point out notches on the rock where the road was carved: three vague hints of steps rising up to a fourth, slightly wider one. It is the "petra du cavarcaru," to climb more comfortably on the donkey's back!