The Road of Serra San Bruno - Serra San Bruno
A must-see destination for those who want to get to know Calabria and an ideal starting point for those who want to explore the mountains that give it its name
Where is
A town with a thousand-year history
"Serra San Bruno is the town in Calabria where one would like to stay. It has an Alpine color and the witty air of the sea comes to you. And then it is in the atmosphere of one of the oldest traditions of Calabria, monasticism," so wrote the Reggio writer Corrado Alvaro in the first half of the twentieth century. The location, in the widest basin of the Calabrian Serre, is unparalleled, and the Carthusian monastery founded by the monk Bruno of Cologne in the time of the Normans is such a reality that it has not been marred by time. The city, because for historical relevance this is its official title, since 2003 has also been the seat of the Serre Regional Park, which includes 25 other municipalities in three provinces.
In the name the two salient realities of the place
The name(from the Latin serra, saw) refers first of all to the jagged ridge that right here has its highest peaks, the Pietra del Caricatore (m 1414) and Monte Pecoraro (m 1423) as well as the sources of the important Ancinale River, destined in the long run to flow into the Gulf of Squillace. As for San Bruno, the toponymic addition dates back to the 19th century, but it refers to the religious center that until 1765 had direct jurisdiction over the town and still continued to be its economic hub. Resurrected from the catastrophic earthquake of 1783, the historic center presents itself in the refined architecture of its Baroque churches and aristocratic palaces adorned with carved portals and wrought iron on the balconies.
An historic center with a double face
The built-up area consists of two parts separated by that fateful date: Terravecchia, preexisting at the time of the earthquake, spontaneously configured since the Middle Ages on the edge of the Charterhouse, interwoven with a maze of narrow streets and widenings, and Spinetto, across the bridge over the Ancinale, of later construction, which grew up on the basis of a rational, parallel-line design. Along the elegant Corso Umberto I are the churches that best represent this architectural resurrection: the mother church of San Biagio, with its high granite façade, custodian of a stupendous reliquary that passed through the hands of San Bruno, and the church of Addolorata, characteristic for its curved façade, with its cozy, casket-like interior.
The precious legacy of the first Charterhouse
The in many ways unique aspect of the city's artistic vicissitude derives indirectly from the Charterhouse itself, which with its early flourishing first contributed to the training of skilled craftsmen in wood, stone and iron, and then, with its almost total destruction in 1873, paradoxically provided an extraordinary variety of artistic artifacts destined to be reused in the city's post-earthquake reconstruction. An eloquent example is the ciborium above the high altar of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, originally in the Charterhouse, which was not only reassembled but also augmented thirty years after the earthquake.
An exceptional setting for nature hiking
Serra San Bruno can be considered the main gateway to the Serre Park, thanks not only to its strategic location in the heart of the mountain complex but also to its good accommodations. Tabbed trails make it possible to reach, for example, the picturesque Lacina basin in the upper Alaco valley, or to walk a stretch of ridge in the shade of its most intact forests. Particularly noteworthy are two integral reserves with an absolutely interesting tree heritage, the Bosco di Archifòro, on the eastern slope of the Pietra del Caricatore, and the Bosco di Santa Maria with its sanctuary, on the eastern slope of the Colle d'Arena (m 1099).
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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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