The sanctuary on Tropea's monolith is one of the South's most powerful images: an ancient Benedictine foundation perched on a sandstone rock that sea and wind cut off from the coast, with a stairway carved into the stone and a small panoramic garden where agaves frame the blue. Below, the Rotonda beach and the transparent water of the Coast of the Gods.
From the terrace behind the sanctuary, on clear days, Stromboli smokes on the horizon.
Our tip: climb at day's end, when the stone warms to pink and bathers drain away; the night view of the lit sanctuary, from the belvedere on the main street, is the postcard you'll carry home.