What is Cicala known for?

The village took its name from Count Cigala, who in 1616 granted land at Trempa di Castagna to local farmers. Recognized as a Borgo Amico delle Demenze for the 2018 opening of the Centro Diurno Antonio Doria, an Alzheimer's and Parkinson's day center. At 829 meters on the western foothills of the Sila Piccola, with the Reventino range rising directly behind the village.

Cicala is a comune in the province of Catanzaro, Calabria region of Italy, about 164 kilometers from Reggio Calabria.

Calabria · Catanzaro

Cicala

A village of 887 people at 829 meters on the western foothills of the Sila Piccola, founded in 1616 by farmers asking the Count Cigala for land.

829m

Elevation

164 km / 102 mi

Nearest hub (Reggio Calabria)

887

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi Autentici

Why come

Cicala sits at 829 meters in the Reventino mountain community, on the western foothills of the Sila Piccola in the northern Catanzaro province. Neolithic finds in the surrounding territory predate the modern village by thousands of years, but the settlement as it stands today was founded in 1616, when the men of the locality of Trempa di Castagna asked Count Cigala for permission to start a hamlet. The new village took the count's surname, slightly altered, first Cigala and then Cicala. The economy is small: agriculture, livestock, chestnuts from the surrounding woods. In 2018 the village inaugurated the Centro Diurno Antonio Doria, an Alzheimer's and Parkinson's day center, and was recognized as a Borgo Amico delle Demenze, dementia-friendly village. It is part of Borghi Autentici d'Italia. The setting under the Reventino crests is closer in feel to the Sila than to the Catanzaro coast thirty kilometers south.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Cicala fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

3 photos · scroll →

Known for

Centro storico
Small mountain borgo of stone houses and stepped alleys, founded in 1616 and largely preserved in its original grid.
Chiesa parrocchiale
Parish church of the village, at the highest point of the centro storico.
Monte Reventino
Mountain rising to 1,417 meters behind the village, the high point of the Reventino range that separates Cicala from the Tyrrhenian.
Sila Piccola foothills
Chestnut and beech woods on the eastern side of the commune, the agricultural and gathering territory of Cicala's residents.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October is the working window for Cicala. The 829-meter elevation keeps the village cool through July and August, when nights stay around fifteen degrees and the Sila Piccola woods become the locals' refuge from the Catanzaro coast heat. November through April is quiet, often cold, with snow possible from December to March. Many of the smaller restaurants close in the off season. The chestnut harvest in October is the autumn anchor and supplies the kitchen for several months; the patronal feast falls in summer.