The Road of Serra San Bruno - Pazzano
Pazzano, a mining hub of ancient history, is now one of the landmarks of the Ferriere e Fonderie Calabresi Ecomuseum
Where is
A village nestled between two mountains
Pazzano is located at an altitude of 410 meters in a narrow saddle between Mount Consolino (701 m) and Mount Mammicomito (1047 m). Within the municipality's territory, which rises up to 1089 meters above sea level, both the Stilaro torrent, from which the entire valley takes its name, and one of its tributaries, the Melodare (or Mardari), originate. Along the latter, a series of mills remain, bearing witness to the ancient Calabrian iron and steel industry that had one of its main centers right here. The settlement, the smallest in the valley by population, retains its rural appearance and is crossed by provincial road 9, which ascends the southeastern slope of the Serre up to Mount Pecoraro.
From Serra San Bruno, a master of wood sculpture
In a widening along the central Via XXIV Maggio stands the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo, rebuilt after the 1783 earthquake. Its façade and bell tower have Baroque forms. The nave has chapels decorated with stucco and connects to a semicircular apse. Of the artistic treasures, some polychrome statues signed by Vincenzo Scrivo (1750-1810) are noteworthy. He was an authoritative master of the wood sculpture school that flourished in Serra San Bruno. The statue of the Most Holy Savior, along with those of the Madonna and the patron saint Saint Joseph, are carried through the village streets on shoulders during the Cunfrunta, one of the most characteristic manifestations of local religiosity.
The richest iron mines in Southern Italy
The origin of the town is linked to the presence of iron ore deposits exploited since the time of Magna Graecia. The first documented evidence of extractive activity comes from a document from 1094 in which Pazzano is cited as a mining village. Under the Normans, it was a mining hamlet of Stilo and contributed to its successful fortunes over the centuries. During the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Pazzano was a strategic extractive center that, with its 25 mines, supplied the cannon foundries throughout Southern Italy. With the Unification of Italy, however, the district's fortunes declined in favor of industries in the North, and several attempts to revive it in the first half of the twentieth century were unsuccessful.
Places that evoke the epic of the mines
Due to the remarkable evidence of industrial archaeology, from mine entrances to workers' houses, Pazzano represents one of the reference points of the Ecomuseum of the Ironworks and Foundries of Calabria. The most unique and evocative testimony, however, is a fountain built in 1760: three stone arches, each with two spouts emerging from cast-iron lion protomes. It is called the Fontana Vecchia (Old Fountain) or Fontana dei Minatori (Miners' Fountain), because men and mules transporting iron from the local mines to the iron and steel plants of Mongiana and Ferdinandea used to stop there.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Stella
The third significant relief in Pazzano's history is Mount Stella (832 m), in the Pazzanito dialect, A Stida, similar to the previous ones in geological nature and mineral resources, but known primarily for the presence of an ancient place of worship. It takes its name, in fact, from the sanctuary of the Madonna della Stella set in a cave at 682 meters above sea level, originally frequented by Basilian hermits. From the village, a steep path starts from Fontana Vecchia and ascends the side of the mountain almost to the sanctuary. This is also the path followed by the procession that takes place on August 15th for the Feast of the Assumption with a large participation of faithful from Calabria and beyond.
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The road to Serra San Bruno
INTRODUZIONE
The road to Serra San Bruno
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Stylus
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The Road of Serra San Bruno - Bivongi
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The Road of Serra San Bruno - Pazzano
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The Road of Serra San Bruno - Mongiana
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The road to Serra San Bruno - Fabrizia
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The Road of Serra San Bruno - Serra San Bruno
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