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Calabria. A dramatic peninsula of rugged mountains and windswept coastlines facing Sicily - 'the most beautiful kilometre in Italy' - wrote Gabriele d'Annunzio. Thought steeped in a rich and ancient past, Calabria has been lost from view when Norman Douglas visited in the early 1900s. Long familiar with southern Italy, the region captivated him and the wild and unspoilt landscape inspired him. Tracing a typically adventurous route from the promontory of Gargano in the north - liked in ancient times with Byzantium - to the southern tip of Aspromote, he scaled vast mountain ranges, trekked through dense forest and crossed remote and often dangerous countryside. Within Douglas's vibrant account of his adventures is woven the rich history - from Greek settlers and Roman conquerors to the powerful 'Ndrangheta organised crime family - that has shaped the land, language, culture and people of a place that Douglas grew to adore. Witty, erudite and elegant, Old Calabria is a literary classic, acclaimed as much for its sparkling prose as for its exquisite portrait of Italy's most unpredictable and colourful province.
Introduction John Davenport 7
1 Saracen Lucera 17
2 Manfred's Town 25
3 The Angel of Manfredonia 31
4 Cave-worship 37
5 Land of Horace 45
6 At Venosa 51
7 The Bandusian Fount 55
8 Tillers of the Soil 61
9 Moving Southwards 75
10 The Flying Monk 84
11 By the Inland Sea 90
12 Molle Tarentum 100
13 Into the Jungle 108
14 Dragons 113
15 Byzantinism 118
16 Reposing at Castrovillari 130
17 Old Morano 141
18 African Intruders 147
19 Uplands of Pollino 155
20 A Mountain Festival 164
21 Milton in Calabria 173
22 The'Greek' Sila 186
23 Albanians and their College 195
24 An Albanian Seer 202
25 Scrambling to Longobucco 207
26 Among the Bruttians 216
27 Calabrian Brigandage 225
28 The Greater Sila 230
29 Chaos 241
30 The Skirts of Montalto 253
31 Southern Saintliness 260
32 Aspromonte, the Cloud-gatherer 281
33 Musolino and the Law 287
34 Malaria 293
35 Caulonia to Serra 300
36 Memories of Gissing 308
37 Cotrone 315
38 The Sage of Croton 321
39 Midday at Petelia 326
40 The Column 330
Map 336
Index 339
Anonymous
Posted July 25, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 28, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 28, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Calabria. A dramatic peninsula of rugged mountains and windswept coastlines facing Sicily - 'the most beautiful kilometre in Italy' - wrote Gabriele d'Annunzio. Thought steeped in a rich and ancient past, Calabria has been lost from view when Norman Douglas visited in the early 1900s. Long familiar with southern Italy, the region captivated him and the wild and unspoilt landscape inspired him. Tracing a typically adventurous route from the promontory of Gargano in the north - liked in ancient times with Byzantium...