Capo Colonna: the single Doric column keeping watch over the Ionian

About ten kilometres from Crotone, where the Calabrian land pushes out into the Ionian until it almost brushes the horizon, there is a promontory the ancients called Lakinion akron. Today you reach it along a quiet road, without queues or crowds, and almost always you arrive when the wind carries the scent of the sea and of Mediterranean scrub. Here, isolated on the edge of the cliff, rises a single Doric column.

The temple of Hera

That column is what remains of the temple of Hera Lacinia, the heart of one of the most important and revered sanctuaries in all of Magna Graecia. Built around the first half of the 5th century BC, the great Doric temple was for centuries a place of pilgrimage from every corner of the Greek world. Of its splendour there remain today the foundations, part of the stylobate and this single surviving column, which has become the emblem of the place and of the entire cape.

The last column

It has not always been alone. The sources recount that as late as the 17th century two columns faced each other on the promontory, until an earthquake brought one down. The survivor has withstood the centuries, the plundering and the natural upheavals, remaining standing like a fixed point in the landscape, visible from afar to those arriving by sea.

The archaeological park

All of it is part of the National Archaeological Park of Capo Colonna, which stretches over some fifty hectares on the far tip of the promontory. Beyond the column, the park guards the remains of the sanctuary and a path that opens onto sheer cliffs and a sea of intense blue. Not far away, the museum preserves the finds that have emerged from the excavations, among them the precious votive objects linked to the cult of the goddess.

When to go

Coming here means choosing a silent archaeology, far from the great flows that besiege other temples of the South. Spring and early autumn offer clear light and mild temperatures, ideal for walking among the ruins without the summer heat. You respect the place by staying on the paths, without touching the ancient stones and carrying away only the sight of that column suspended between sky and sea.

Related guides: Little-known archaeological sites in Italy: the guide to places off the beaten track · Where to go to the sea in September without the crowds: the South when the tourists leave.

Getting there

The promontory of Capo Colonna lies a few kilometres south-east of Crotone: by car you follow the provincial road that leads from the city towards the archaeological area, where there is a car park. The reference railway station is Crotone, served by the Ionian line; from there the site is reached by taxi or by the urban and suburban buses linking the centre with Capo Colonna. The nearest airport is Crotone (Sant'Anna), while the airports of Lamezia Terme and Reggio Calabria are the main alternatives for those arriving from outside the region.