Lamezia is three towns that decided to become one: Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia joined in 1968, and the name came from the thermal waters of Caronte, where people have bathed since Roman times. Nicastro, though, is far older: it was born in the ninth century, when Calabria was Byzantine, around a Neo Castrum — a «new castle» — and in 1062 the Norman Robert Guiscard founded the great abbey of Sant'Eufemia here.
The earthquake of 1638 levelled almost everything: the abbey fell into ruin and the castle, built by the Normans and enlarged by Frederick II, came down. What is left stands above Nicastro and can be visited. Today Lamezia is Calabria's hub — international airport, station, motorways — but it has a character of its own, with the bastion of Malta on the plain and olive groves as far as the eye can see. The plain of Sant'Eufemia produces a serious olive oil, and the sea of the Costa degli Aranci is ten minutes away. A perfect base for Tropea and the Serre: land, hire a car, and Calabria is yours.
Sweet enough to go into ice cream, grown along a strip of Tyrrhenian coast: Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2008.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Lamezia Terme, but an easy day trip away.
