Castrovillari is the gateway to the Pollino, Italy's largest national park: the roads to the ancient Bosnian pines and the gorges of the Calabrian-Lucanian massif all start here. At the mountain's feet, the Aragonese castle of 1490 still squares off the town centre with its cylindrical towers.
The town of 22,515 residents also throws one of Calabria's great parties: its carnival, documented since the seventeenth century, ranks among the region's oldest and draws masks and folk groups from across the South. In the old Civita quarter, the sanctuary of Santa Maria del Castello has watched over the plain since the eleventh century.
Near Castrovillari
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
