Pentedattilo

Not to be missed

Pentedattilo hosts in the summertime the "Paleariza," a major international event of Grecanic music and culture that has had Tullio De Piscopo, Parto delle nuvole pesanti and Roy Paci & Aretuska among its guests. the village is also the home of the Pentedattilo Film Festival, an international short film competition.

A bit of history

The village is characterized by the mountain above it, the only natural monument in the world with this shape. When the ancient Greeks, specifically the Chalcidans, landed on what would become the coast of Magna Graecia, they were enraptured by the sight of this monolith and named it Penta Daktilos (five fingers). In fact, the various ridges tend to resemble a hand pointing upward. The Chalcidans attracted by this shape identified it as a "divine" sign and founded a village there, which then evolved over the centuries, amid abandonments and raids, until it reached the height of its splendor in Byzantine times.

Trivia

It is said that the village was the scene of a heinous crime: the massacre of the Alberti. It was on Easter night in the year 1686.... The story is very long and it is advisable to hear it directly from the mouths of the local people. Someone says that among the ruins of the old castle, at night, one can still hear the hooves of horses slowly approaching Pentedattilo from Montebello. Someone else says that when the wind blows violently through the gorges of the fortress, one can still hear the screams of Marquis Lorenzo Alberti. What is certain is that the story of the Pentedattilo massacre is still a mystery that wants to be told.