Pentedattilo: The Borgo of Five Stone Fingers in Calabria

A stone hand above the Strait

Pentedattilo appears without warning, like an apparition. Rounding a bend on the road climbing from Melito di Porto Salvo, at the southernmost tip of Calabria, you find yourself facing a colossal crag that resembles a hand with five fingers reaching toward the sky. At the foot of this stone hand cling the abandoned houses of one of the most evocative and photographed borghi in southern Italy.

The name says everything: Pentedattilo comes from the Greek "pente daktylos" — five fingers. We are in Calabria grecanica, the land where griko, a dialect of Greek origin, has survived for two thousand years. Here history is as ancient as the stones, and the stones tell stories of blood, abandonment and slow rebirth.

From its founding to the Alberti massacre

The origins of Pentedattilo are lost in prehistory. The site was inhabited by the Greeks, then the Romans, and finally became a medieval borgo under the dominion of various noble families. The most celebrated and bloodiest episode is the Alberti massacre, which took place on Easter night in 1686.

Lorenzo Alberti, Marquis of Pentedattilo, was assassinated along with part of his family by the baron Bernardino Abenavoli, in a tangle of feudal rivalry and unrequited love. Legend holds that on windy nights the cries of the victims can still be heard echoing among the crags. The massacre marked the beginning of the borgo's decline.

In the centuries that followed, earthquakes, floods and the inaccessible location led to progressive depopulation. In the 1960s the last inhabitants left Pentedattilo to move to the new centre in the valley below. The borgo officially became a ghost town.

The borgo today: between ruin and rebirth

Pentedattilo is not completely abandoned. In recent decades a movement of volunteers and cultural associations has begun a slow process of recovery. Some houses have been restored and now house craft workshops, a small museum and exhibition spaces. The borgo has become the venue for summer festivals, including the Pentedattilo Film Festival.

What to see

- The five-finger crag: visible from every angle, it is the borgo's symbol. The best viewpoint is along the approach road

- Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo: partially restored, it preserves traces of frescoes and a stone portal

- Castle ruins: on the summit of the crag, reachable by a short, steep path. The view over the Strait of Messina is extraordinary

- The craft workshops: ceramics, textiles and typical Calabrian products, run by artisans and volunteers

- The documentation centre: a small museum on the borgo's history and Calabrian Greek culture

The path to the crag

For the more adventurous, a path climbs from the base of the borgo to the top of the crag, where the ruins of the Alberti castle stand. The route is short but steep, with exposed sections: sure-footedness and trekking boots are required. From the summit the panorama is breathtaking: the Strait of Messina, the Sicilian coast, Etna on clear days, and the fiumare descending from the Aspromonte to the sea.

Practical information

How to get there

Pentedattilo lies approximately 7 km from Melito di Porto Salvo and 35 km from Reggio Calabria. It is reached by car along the SS106 to Melito, then following signs for the borgo. Parking is just before the entrance. No public transport connections exist.

Tips

- Trekking boots for those wishing to climb to the crag

- Sunscreen and hat in summer: the borgo is fully exposed to the sun

- Bring water: refreshment points are limited to a small bar open in summer months

- Allow about an hour for the borgo alone, two hours if you climb to the crag

In the surrounding area

Calabria grecanica offers other borghi worth exploring: Bova, the cultural capital of the grecanica community with its museum of the Greek language; Roghudi vecchio, another ghost borgo in a spectacular position above a fiumara; Gallicianò, the borgo where griko is still spoken as a living tongue. For food, local trattorias serve macaroni with goat ragù, stockfish and pitta — the authentic flavours of the Aspromonte.

When to go

The ideal months are March, April, May, October and November. Summer on the Ionian coast is scorching and the borgo, with no shade, can be suffocating. Spring is the best period: the fiumare still run with water, the vegetation is lush and the light is perfect for photography. In summer the borgo comes alive with festivals and evening events.