Rombiolo

Rombiolo lies on the north-eastern side of Monte Poro, and the mountain explains the town better than any chronicle. The Poro is not like the other Calabrian massifs: it has a mild climate, varied vegetation and a dense population scattered among many small villages, because its modest height — a little over seven hundred metres — allows people to live even on its highest ground. From up there the eye takes in the whole Tyrrhenian coast, from Cetraro down to Scilla, and the plains of Lamezia Terme and Gioia Tauro: which is why the summit has become an important centre for radio and television transmission. About the name of the town there is no certainty: it would come from the Latin rhombiolus, a diminutive of rhombus, which in turn might be linked to the Greek rombos, the spinning top.

Around Rombiolo stand Spilinga, Zungri, Filandari and Limbadi, and in a few kilometres of plateau are concentrated products known far beyond it: the pecorino of Monte Poro, the 'nduja of Spilinga, the red onion of Tropea, sheep's ricotta. On the Poro, together with the Locride on the other side of Calabria, the Calabrian lyre used to be played too: it had almost fallen out of use in the nineteen-fifties, then came back and spread through the rest of the region. The municipal coat of arms, by contrast, is recent: it was granted in 1983.