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Historical and Cultural Resource

Most of the territory included in Valle del Crocchio L.A.G.’s area finds itself in places once interested by the extraordinary Magna Grecia’s world. Of the Greek world it is left the strong cultural, social and often religious roots, together with other cultural layers which have superimposed themselves during the centuries of conflicts and foreign conflicts (by Norman, Swabian, Angevine, Aragonese, Spanish, French, Bourbon people). In particular, the Byzantine and Norman dominations have left signs not only in Art, but also in the settlement structure, strongly affected by the centralization respect the fortifications and the feudal residences. Of the historical legacy they are kept many evidences in the map of the towns and in their architecture, with ruins of fortifications, palaces, churches and monasteries, but also in the customs and in the local traditions.
Crocchio Valley’s area plays as home to important Archaeological Sites a great number of excavation companies, lead by the Superintendence of the Archaeological Goods of Calabria, have often acceded in exploring exhaustively. This intense research activity has made it necessary to make them visible the results achieved: that’s why the creation of the ANTIQUARIUM which springs out in Cropani’s historic centre.

To this “kit” of the area, we have to add the important endowment in the fields of Arts and Letters. Since the XI Century and all the XVIII along the art of producting and working the silk establishes itself and makes progress; the Courts of Europe are dressed with the clothes produced by the artisans of Catanzaro and the walls of the palaces show off the Damasks and the Wallpapers embroidered by the artists belonging to this area.
In the pictorial art it stands out that “Calabrian Gentleman”, that is Mattia Preti, born in Taverna (XVII century), the capital of Presila, one of the most important interpreters of “Caravaggism” and the European Baroque, whose works, besides embellishing his town of origin as “natural” picture gallery, are spread in all the regions of Italy to reach the “summa” in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in the little valley in the isle of Malta.