Above Maratea, on the summit of Monte San Biagio, stands a statue of Christ twenty-one metres tall with open arms, and the curious thing is how it is placed: it does not look at the sea, it turns its back on it. It faces inland, towards the basilica a little further down, and whoever arrives from the coast sees it first from behind.
What to see
The statue was made between 1963 and 1965 by the Florentine sculptor Bruno Innocenti, from a mix of cement and marble chips that gives it its pale colour. The forms are simplified, almost squared off, with the head slightly bent and the hands open: it is not a nineteenth-century devotional sculpture, it is a work of the twentieth century, and it shows.
Behind it is the basilica of San Biagio, the sanctuary of Maratea, and all around the ridge with its view over the gulf of Policastro. From up there you see the coast, the villages, and on clear days Calabria and Sicily; below, the cliff drops sheer to the water.
Visiting
You climb up from Maratea by a narrow winding road to a car park, then continue on foot for a short stretch; access is free. An hour between the climb, the statue and the view. The road is demanding and in high season access may be regulated.
Our editors' tip
Go at sunset and stand behind the statue, on the sea side: you see the black outline against the light with the gulf behind it, and that is the better framing. Then walk round to the front, the side facing the mountains, and you will see the face lit by the last light coming from behind the viewer's shoulders.