Gerace looks beyond tourism as Calabria’s Norman gem seeks a place on the world stage

Gerace, Calabria — Perched on a rocky hill overlooking the Ionian Sea, Gerace is a town where centuries of history remain part of everyday life. Byzantine churches, Norman architecture, ancient traditions, artisan workshops, local food and sweeping views across the Locride combine to create a place that is increasingly looking beyond the idea of tourism as simply visiting a historic town.

During a recent press trip to Gerace, the town presented its ambition to become an internationally recognised cultural destination, building on its extraordinary heritage while investing in new ways for visitors to experience and connect with the community.

Known as the “City of a Hundred Churches”, Gerace stands between the Ionian coast, the Aspromonte National Park and the Costa dei Gelsomini. Its history stretches back thousands of years, with evidence of early human settlements dating to between 5000 and 2800 BC. The area later became connected to Locri Epizephyrii and the Greek civilisation of Magna Graecia before passing through Roman, Byzantine and Norman periods.

The arrival of Roger of Hauteville in 1062 marked the beginning of the Norman chapter that would profoundly shape the town. In the 12th century, the Arab geographer Al Idrisi described Gerace as “beautiful, large and illustrious”, reflecting the importance the town had acquired in the medieval Mediterranean.

Today, that layered history remains visible throughout the town. The Basilica Concattedrale of Santa Maria Assunta, built in the 11th century during the Norman period over an earlier Byzantine church, dominates the historic centre and remains one of the most significant examples of Romanesque architecture in Calabria. Around it is a network of churches, monasteries, museums and narrow streets that reveal the meeting of Eastern and Western traditions.

But Gerace’s identity is not confined to its monuments. It is also expressed through the skills, food and traditions of its people.

The town has maintained a strong artisan culture, particularly through its ceramics. The argagnari, or master potters, have been associated with Gerace since at least the 17th century, while weaving, maiolica painting and other forms of craftsmanship continue to preserve techniques passed down through generations.

The surrounding landscape is equally important. Olive groves, vineyards, forests, ancient paths and panoramic viewpoints connect Gerace to both the Aspromonte and the Ionian coast. Historic fountains and rural landscapes provide further reminders of the long relationship between the community and its territory.

Food offers perhaps the most direct expression of that relationship.

At Palazzo Candida, a historic residence in the centre of Gerace, the press trip included “A Tavola con la Locride”, a dinner designed as a journey through the flavours and stories of the Locride and Aspromonte. Rather than simply presenting a series of traditional dishes, the evening connected each product to the people, landscapes and traditions behind it.

Caciocavallo di Ciminà, a Slow Food Presidium, represented the pastoral traditions of the Aspromonte, while the Oliva Grossa di Gerace, also known as Geracese, reflected the centuries old agricultural landscape surrounding the town.

Stocco di Mammola provided another example of how an ingredient that originated far from Calabria became deeply embedded in local culture. The dried cod, brought from northern Europe, is rehydrated using the waters of the Aspromonte and transformed through local techniques into one of the most recognisable dishes of the area.

The dinner continued with products from the Suino Nero d’Aspromonte, an ancient breed traditionally raised in the forests, as well as handmade pasta and stroncatura, one of the most distinctive pasta varieties of the Locride.

The final dishes turned towards the traditions of family celebrations, with nacatole and rafioli di Gerace, followed by Greco di Bianco, the renowned sweet wine of the Ionian coast, and Kitza, a jasmine liqueur inspired by the Costa dei Gelsomini and the history of the women who once collected jasmine flowers by hand.

The experience illustrated the broader philosophy behind Gerace’s approach to tourism: visitors should not simply look at a destination but understand the people and traditions that make it what it is.

That philosophy is at the heart of “Gerace Porta del Sole”, a €20 million project financed through the European Union’s Next Generation EU programme and Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

The project aims to regenerate the town and strengthen its position as a cultural and tourist destination through investment in heritage, accessibility, local businesses, digital technology and visitor services.

Among the planned interventions is a new vertical connection linking the historic centre with the parking area, making the town easier to access for residents and visitors. A new SPA is also planned, alongside digital initiatives designed to make the historical heritage more accessible through augmented reality, interactive maps, multimedia installations and other technologies.

The project is being developed alongside “Gerace Sogno Normanno” and the “Siamo tutti Ruggero” network, which use the figure of Roger of Hauteville to connect the town’s Norman heritage with its Greek and Byzantine roots and its contemporary identity.

Gerace has already been recognised as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages and holds the Touring Club Italiano’s Orange Flag. Its ambition now is to take that recognition further.

Mayor Rudi Lizzi said the town wants Gerace to be recognised not only throughout Italy but around the world. Yet his vision goes beyond simply attracting more visitors.

Tourism, he stressed, should not be about coming to a place, taking in its sights and leaving. The aim is for people to experience Gerace, to live the town and to establish a lasting relationship with it.

That ambition gives particular significance to the concept of Gerace Cultural Destination. The objective is to create a destination in which culture, landscape, food, craftsmanship, technology and community are not separate attractions but parts of the same experience.

For a town whose identity has been shaped by successive encounters between Greek, Byzantine, Norman and Mediterranean cultures, the idea of connection is not new.

What is changing is the way Gerace is seeking to communicate it.

Its future is being built not by turning the town into a museum, but by making its history part of a living experience. The hope is that visitors will leave with more than photographs of its cathedral, views over the Ionian Sea or memories of a Calabrian meal.

They will leave with a reason to return.

And, as Mayor Lizzi’s vision suggests, perhaps with a permanent connection to Gerace itself.

PS