Chances are excellent that you have never heard of Civita – a southern Italian mountain village which sits within Calabria’s spectacular Raganello Gorge.
It is a very rewarding destination, both scenically and culturally…and there is adventure tourism” too, for climbers, kayakers and “white water” enthusiasts.
Civita is sometimes referred to as “the village of the Devil’s Bridge”.
The higher rim of the Raganello River’s gorge towers above Civita, but from village’s edge to Devil’s Bridge – which spans the river – it is still a long way down.
The village was initially established more than a thousand years ago, abandoned after an earthquake in 1465, then resettled circa 1471 by Albanians who were fleeing their Ottoman oppressors.
Civita still has a decidedly Albanian “feel”.
It is also noted for its strange, “anthropomorphic” houses; Civita will eventually have its own multi-image Pelican Yoga post.
If you wish to see and know more right now, click here.
This post’s sequel will take you much closer to the Devil’s Bridge.
(Featured image ©️ Doug Spencer, taken at 1. 41 pm, 16 September 2023. 24 mm lens. The Devil’s Bridge is near the image’s bottom right corner)