Descending towards Sibari, where another archaeological area of remarkable interest is found, you come across the perfectly preserved Castle of Cape Spulico, facing the sea from on high.
At 28 Km away you will find the village of Tursi, a very interesting medieval centre, featuring the fascinating Rabatana quarter, evidencing the Arab settlement of this area. The term “ribat” in Arabic means settlement place or also fortified place and actually Rabatana in Tursi is coeval with the highest part of the early medieval built environment, occupying an optimal defensive position. Besides the historic centre, at 6 Km from the settlement on a height which dominates the whole valley between the Agri and Sinni Rivers, you come across the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Anglona, a very spiritual site, which has been a national monument since 1931 and unique remaining evidence of an older inhabited centre dating from the VIIth – VIIIth century. The construction in tufa and travertine displays striking architectural elements, like the apse, the bell-tower and the entrance in Romanesque style.
It is important to visit the Gallipoli-Cognato Park in the province of Potenza and the two small hamlets of Castelmezzano (the church of the Templars) and Pietrapertosa, both registered in the list of the Most Beautiful Hamlets of Italy and where, a few years ago, was inaugurated the breath-taking trail called “Flight of Angels” ("Volo dell'Angelo"), a steel wire rope making it possible to skim over them, with a spectacular view over the two hamlets at 1000 m. in height. The beginnings of Castelmezzano dates back to the Vth century B.C. constructed by Greek colonists. The hamlet having passed through several dominations is rich in history and dislays witness of the Order of the Templars’ presence (like the coat of arms of the area). Pietrapertosa was probablly founded by pre-Hellenic colonists and has been subject to several dominations, whose testimony is conserved overlaid in time, such as the oldest of the quarters, Arabata, clearly of Saracen origin. The hamlet is literally embedded in the rocky outcrops of the Calabria Dolomites and for this reason it took the name of “perforated rock".
Crossing over the Basilicata and Calabria regions, there is the magnificent Pollino Park, home to the “Loricate Pine", which besides offering breath-taking panoramas, opportunities for excursions and trekking, wilderness places, like the Raganello canyon or white-water rafting in the Lao valley, also preserves the cultural heritage of the Albanian ethnic group and small characteristic centres like Civita, Frascineto, Morano, Cerchiara, Laino Borgo. Civita is one of the best-known centres with a historic centre whose house, for the most part in their original state, have typical architectural features like decorated chimneys in the suspended ovens and in the loggias. Overlooked by the Timpa del Demonio, a rocky wall of 800 m. height, tinged with pink, which separates the hamlet from the Raganello Gorges, is one of the most evocative spectacles of Pollino Park, a canyon 13 km in length dropping 700 m. leaving you dumbfounded. Make a stopover at the viewing site over the gorges and the valley or a panoramic descent down the right trail to join the Devil’s Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo), an ancient bridge used by pastoralists which indicates the end of the gorges. Make a short visit to the ethnic museum which conserves items of peasant civilisation, arbëreshë clothes, a library concentrating on ethnicity, a photographic exhibition on all the Arbëreshe communities of Italy and images of the Byzantine liturgy. Frascineto is another Albanian ethnic centre, dominated by the “Little Dolomites” (“Piccole Dolomiti”), deserves a stopover for a visit to the Doll Museum where Albanian clothing is exhibited in miniature and for tasting the typical local wines in local bars, the Pollino (DOC wine of origin), a wine which originates from a union between the dark berries of the Marsilian magliocco canino variety, an indigenous vine, and the aglianico variety. The Museum of Byzantine Icons and Traditions is worth a visit, centre of excellence of the Byzantine culture in Calabria, with its extraordinary collection of XVII-XX century Byzantine icons, liturgical furnishings and medals , gli. One can also visit the Biodiversity Museum which displays the fauna and flora of the Park and is the largest in Europe. On the Tuesday after Easter, in the town itself, Valljie is celebrated, a traditional “Arbëreshe” dance, which commemorates the patriot Skanderberg who led Calabria.