When we think of Calabrian mountains we think of the Sila. It stretches for 40 kilometres and has a maximum width of 30 kilometres. It can be divided into three parts. Sila Grande, in the centre of the highlands which is the most populated and busy part. The most important town is San Giovanni in Fiore. There are also the tourist towns of Camigliatello Silano and Lorica. The Sila Grande slopes down to the Ionian Sea and many towns of Albanian origin are in this area. The Greek names recall the arrival of the Greeks many centuries ago. The Sila Piccola lies to the south in the provinces of Crotone and Catanzaro. The entire upland area which rises to over 1500m is covered in luxuriant vegetation  with beech, chestnut and larch woods. In winter the trees, the rocks, the three lakes and the very landscape transform the area into a Nordic paradise. In spring, after the rigid winter months, wild flowers spring up in all the clearings and pastures: orchids, crocus, asphodels. They herald the arrival of summer. The fauna is typical of the Appenine regions. Visitors may even see wild boar, squirrels, woodpeckers, jays, doves and different birds of prey. There are also rooks, crows, falcons, wolves, foxes, deer, roebuck, salamanders and different kinds of adders, non poisonous snakes and lizards. The National Park of CAlabria is different in that it is divided into two separate parts which are twenty kilometres apart. It also lies in two different provinces. The Park however is well-organized. There is a natural museum, a botanical garden, a geological area and an ethnographic museum. Regular tourist facilities are also available.

Camigliatello silano