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Stemma di Bagnara Calabra

Calabria · Reggio di Calabria

Bagnara Calabra

A swordfish town on the Costa Viola where boats with lookout masts still hunt the Strait, and the IGP torrone has been made by hand since the eighteenth century.

32 km / 20 mi

Nearest hub (Reggio Calabria)

9,279

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Why come

Bagnara Calabra is built into the hills above the Tyrrhenian on the Costa Viola, twenty-five kilometers north of Reggio Calabria, with the Strait of Messina opening to the south. The first organized settlement on record was the Abbey of Santa Maria and the Twelve Apostles, founded around 1085 by Roger I of Sicily. Two things still define the town. Swordfish: Bagnara is the small capital of Calabrian swordfish, and the local fleet still uses the felucca or passerella, a tall-masted boat with a lookout high above the deck and a long bowsprit walkway from which the harpooner strikes; the practice goes back centuries and is shared with Scilla, six kilometers south. Torrone: Bagnara torrone, a nougat of honey, sugar and almonds, has been made in the town since the eighteenth century and carries IGP status. The Bagnarote women, who carried the catch on their heads up the hills, are a fixture in Calabrian folklore.

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Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

  • Basilica di Maria SS. del Rosario

    Eighteenth-century basilica rebuilt after the 1908 earthquake, the main religious anchor of the town.

  • Castello Emmarita

    Ruins of a medieval fortress on the hill above town, with views down to the Tyrrhenian and across to Sicily.

  • Spiagge della Costa Viola

    Pebble and dark-sand beaches under steep cliffs, named for the violet light the coast takes at sunset.

  • Centro storico

    Historic centre built up the hillside in steps, with the old fishermen's quarter at the harbour and the upper village reaching to 300 meters and beyond.

  • Belvedere sul Mare

    Coastal viewpoint over the Tyrrhenian, the Aeolian Islands to the north on clear days, the Sicilian coast to the south.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

May through September is the bathing and swordfish season. Water warms by late May, the felucche head out in early summer, and the beaches under the Costa Viola fill in July and August. The Festa di Maria SS. del Rosario in early September is the main event of the religious calendar. June and September are the calmer swimming months, and the cliff light that gives the coast its name is at its best in late afternoon. October through April is quieter; the Strait of Messina wind cuts down the cliffs, the beach establishments close, and the town keeps its 9,000 residents on the hillside terraces.

How to get there

From Reggio Calabria, Bagnara Calabra is roughly 32 km by road. Allow about 27–38 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).

Drive time to the nearest gateway airports

  • Lamezia / Reggio1h 24m
  • Sicily2h 27m
  • Naples / Salerno5h 21m

Elevation 50 m

Reachable by train

Google MapsApple MapsDirections from Reggio Calabria

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