The Caves of Zungri: the stone city carved into the sandstone of Calabria
In the Malopera valley, in Calabria, the Caves of Zungri are more than a hundred houses hewn from the sandstone: a medieval cave village.
Mboesch, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A few kilometres from the crowds of Tropea, perched at around 490 metres above the sea, there is another world. The rock-cut settlement of the Sbariati is an entire village carved into the soft sandstone of the hillside, more than a hundred cave-houses arranged along the slope of the Malopera stream valley, in the Fossi district. Walking among these circular and quadrangular chambers, some on several levels, you feel as though you are entering a hive of stone where people once lived, prayed and stored grain in silos.
The origins
The origins remain wrapped in a certain uncertainty, and it is only right to tell them that way. Scholars tend to place the most visible phase of the village between the 12th and 14th centuries, when the site was inhabited and then abandoned. Some hypotheses trace the earliest settlements to Eastern communities and monks who came to Calabria in earlier centuries to escape the iconoclast persecutions, reusing large silos of Byzantine date. These are fascinating hypotheses, not certainties: part of the allure of the Sbariati lies precisely in this silence of history.
The very name, "Sbariati", evokes those who are lost or scattered, and it suits a place that seems to have strayed out of time. Here you will find no queues, no tour buses, no orderly lines. You will find the sound of the wind among the badlands, the warm colour of the rock at sunset and the tangible sense of touching the daily life of far-off centuries.
The museum
Next to the archaeological area, the Museum of Rock-Cut and Rural Civilisation keeps tools, objects and testimonies of the region's rural life, and helps you read how these communities inhabited and transformed the stone. The ticket is symbolic and covers both the museum and the settlement: a small gesture that directly supports the care of the site.
How to visit it
To visit Zungri is to choose a different Calabria, slow and authentic, far from the limelight of the coast. It is an invitation to slow down, to bring comfortable shoes for the paths, to respect a fragile place and to leave something to the community that guards it. A quiet alternative, made to the measure of curiosity.
Getting there
The Caves of Zungri lie in the hinterland of the Costa degli Dei, near Tropea. By car you leave the A2 Mediterranean motorway towards Vibo Valentia and follow the signs for Tropea and then Zungri; the village is about twenty kilometres from Tropea, Vibo Valentia and Capo Vaticano. The reference railway stations are Vibo Valentia-Pizzo and Lamezia Terme Centrale. The nearest airport is Lamezia Terme, handy for hiring a car afterwards.
Practical guides for Como
Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Caves of Zungri?
The recommended time is April, May, June, September and October, when it is less crowded.
Is The Caves of Zungri crowded?
The Caves of Zungri is a very quiet destination compared with the more touristy ones.
Where is The Caves of Zungri?
The Caves of Zungri is located in Zungri, Calabria, Italy.
Suggerita come alternativa a
Se cerchi mete meno affollate simili a questa, vedi anche:
Altre alternative a Tropea
Guide selezionate dalla nostra redazione, tutte alternative alla stessa meta affollata:
Gerace, the Locride's Best-Kept Secret That Almost Nobody Knows
Calabria
Skip Tropea: Pizzo Calabro, Tartufo Gelato and Murat's Castle
Pizzo Calabro, Calabria
The Hidden Coast of the Gods: From Pizzo to Capo Vaticano Without the Crowds
Calabria
Gerace, the spur of stone that towers over the Locride and the Ionian
Gerace (Reggio Calabria), Italy
Bova, where ancient Greek is still a living language
Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Inhabitants at each census (source ISTAT, historical series via Wikipedia).
How to get there
- 🚆 Nearest station: Parghelia ~6 km as the crow flies
- ✈️ Nearest airport: Aeroporto Internazionale di Lamezia Terme SUF ~36 km as the crow flies
Nearest points as the crow flies (source OpenStreetMap): actual times depend on the roads, often mountain ones.
