Crotone, Italy

Today we docked in Crotone. It is a port town in the region of Calabria. We are going to visit the Scolacium Archeological Park. 

The park is located in a large olive grove.   The first thing we saw was an incredible red brick Norman style church. It is called Santa Maria Della Roccella.  The church was built in the 11th century but was never finished.   It is huge and the walls are very thick but questionable engineering. It was damaged by a severe earthquake in 1783.

We continued into the park and encountered 3 men who were harvesting olives. One was in the tree shaking the branches. The others were picking the olives up from the tarp spread under the tree. This is the way that olives have been harvested for centuries. The olives were placed in a large container waiting to go to the olive press.

We proceeded into the small museum where we found rooms of treasures found on this site. This included marble statues, columns Roman glass and jewelry. The details in the garments of these statues is amazing.

Also located on this site is a Greek theater that held 3000 people. It is built into a hillside and has very good acoustics.

In 1960 the Roman forum and surrounding city complex was discovered during a sewer construction project. This resulted in excavation of part of the olive orchard to reveal terra cotta pavers which formed the rectangular forum plaza. The forum was surrounded by administrative buildings on one side and merchant stalls on the other. You have to use your imagination to appreciate this Roman site.

The last and incredibly interesting exhibit was an old olive oil processing facility. The factory was an early electric facility with huge mechanized grinding stones and olive presses.

Our next stop was at Castillo de Squillace. The castle was built between the 11th and 12th centuries. After being held by many families it was passed to the Borgias in 1485. The Borgia family crest is over the entrance portal.

We enjoyed seeing these two sights in the Calabrian countryside. Once again we were reminded of the many civilizations that have left their mark and the complex legacies they have left for us to see.Meer informatie