SHARRYLAND
Shrine of St. Mary of the Island of Tropea
On a sandstone cliff overlooking the crystal clear sea, an ancient church with a modern appearance
Where is
What it is and where it is
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria is a peculiar-looking structure, somewhere between a church and a castle, located in the Province of Vibo Valentia, in Tyrrhenian Calabria. The uniqueness lies in the fact that this is set above a fragment of sandstone, the Island of Tropea, which rises between the lido and the Tyrrhenian Sea, considered one of the precious stones along the fascinating setting of the Costa degli Dei.
Why it is special
The uniqueness of this place lies in its historical, topographical and architectural ambiguity. Although it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the Tyrrhenian Sea, it remains a place of silent mystery, about which little or nothing is known from the first centuries since it was built. First it was an island populated by ascetic monks, separated from the rest of the world, while today it is a rock only facing the sea, no longer surrounded by it; thus an island that is not an island. Finally, as modern as the shrine appears from its facade, which was renovated in 1908, it retains some interior elements of a thousand-year-old heart. It is a place that is everything and the opposite of everything. Therein lies its elusiveness and wonder.
Not to be missed
As a matter of "panoramic spannung," I would advise you to enter Tropea from the upper part, so that, arriving at the belvedere in Piazza Cannone after walking down Viale Umberto I, you can be literally shocked by the spectacle...from here the white island of Tropea and its Sanctuary are grafted into a truly breathtaking setting. You can then descend a stone staircase, finding yourself, in a few minutes, at the foot of this enormous sandstone cliff. Finally, you cannot fail to visit the panoramic terrace of the Sanctuary, where you will have a 360° view: on one side the horizon between sea and sky, on the other the city in all its grandeur and beauty.
A bit of history
The details and exact period of its construction are not known. What is certain is that Calabria was placed, in ancient times, under the jurisprudence of Byzantium. The most probable hypothesis, therefore, is that there was an early settlement of Greek hermit monks. Around 1066 the Church of Santa Maria dell'Isola was donated by the Normans, who had Latinized it since 1040, to the abbot of Montecassino. Over the centuries, repeatedly destroyed by violent earthquakes or by the numerous raids, it has lost, piece by piece, its original appearance. Only in the interior do a few ancient architectural elements remain. The current appearance of the facade is due to the last restoration in 1908, after a violent earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck the Calabrian Tyrrhenian coast on the night of September 7-8, 1905, devastating numerous localities and also causing damage to the Sanctuary, where the exterior portico was severely damaged.
Tropea overhanging the beach
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