Scilla, Charybdis, and the Stone Siren on the Strait of Messina

Scilla is the place where Greek mythology planted real roots in rock. The promontory of Castello Ruffo — a basalt cliff jutting into the Strait of Messina like a tooth — is the monster Scylla that Homer described in the Odyssey. On the other side, the swirling currents of the Strait are Charybdis. It's not just poetry: the currents that meet here are among the most violent in the Mediterranean, and fishermen have known it for three thousand years.

The Chianalea Quarter

Below the castle, clinging to the rocks with houses resting directly on the water, the Chianalea quarter is one of the most photogenic and least visited fishing villages in Calabria. Houses are built so close to the sea that boats are moored in front of doors like cars in a garage. The alleys are as narrow as a single person, and at the windows laundry dries in the wind from the Strait. In summer a few tourists discover it, but in spring and autumn it belongs almost exclusively to the fishermen.

Swordfish Fishing by Lamplight

Scilla's oldest tradition is swordfish fishing with the feluca — a long, narrow boat with a very tall mast from which the fisherman spots the fish — and the lampara, the light that attracts swordfish to the surface at night. It is an ancient trade, nearly vanished, surviving only in a few ports on the Strait. The season is June-July. In the restaurants of Chianalea, fresh swordfish is served alla ghiotta — with tomato, capers, olives, and onion — at twelve to eighteen euros per serving.

Scilla Seen from the Strait

Scilla is twenty-eight kilometers from Reggio Calabria (thirty minutes by train) and clearly visible from Messina on the other shore of the Strait. In May and September the village is full of life but not overcrowded. The Marina Grande beach is one of the few pebble-and-sand beaches on the Tyrrhenian Calabrian coast, long and sparsely equipped. The Castello Ruffo, now a museum with stunning views, is open year-round.