"It is an authentic journey to discover the ancient roots of Europe in the Mediterranean.
With pleasureand and a hint of satisfaction we announce, and we do it from these wonderful places in Calabria (the elegant council room of the Monastery of the Observant Friars of Rocca Imperiale), the near completion of the 'Basilian Way'. Not a project yet to be developed - claimed the president of the Regional Council Domenico Tallini - but an itinerary of over a thousand kilometers that ends from Rocca Imperiale in Reggio Calabria, defined in all its fundamental aspects and supported by a financial dowry made available by the Regional Council which I have the honor to preside over ".
The debate was coordinated by the journalist Mario Alvaro, president of the Pollino-Sibaritide Press Club, while the contents of the project were illustrated by the president of the 'Basilian Way' association Carmine Lupia and by the area contact person for the project Emanuele Pisarra.
Applause and unconditional adhesion to the project, to which they have ensured support and from which they expect full involvement in promoting the growth and development of their villages through intelligent forms of knowledge tourism, by seven local administrators of the upper Ionian coast of Cosenza.
For Giuseppe Ranù (mayor of Rocca Imperiale) "It is a challenge that looks to the future in an ambitious way for our land"; Paolo Stigliano (Mayor of Canna): "Tourism brings development and can counteract the increase in unemployment"; Rocco Introcaso (mayor of Montegiordano): “By uniting all our communities, the project will bring development to our territory”; Maria Antonietta Pandolfi (mayor of Nocara): "We support the project because it can help mountain municipalities where there is a strong social discomfort, starting with the road system". Agostino Diego (Councilor of Oriolo): “new strategies are needed to cope with demographic decline and depopulation. The project is shared, but services for tourists are also needed ”; Domenico Vuodo (mayor of Alessandria del Carretto): “We share the project, but we need to ensure social and health services for citizens and tourists”; Antonio Carlomagno (mayor of Cerchiara di Calabria): “this project can help the survival of our realities. Cultural and environmental peculiarities are a heritage to be valued ".
Pisarra, one of the most accredited 'guides' in the region, explained: "To give comprehensive answers to the visitor, walker and hiker, we investigated the history, landscape, culture and tradition that make up the backbone of this route from East to West ". The ethnobotanist Lupia added that "This is an itinerary of over a thousand kilometers to introduce the beauties of Calabria. The Way will allow you to get to know monasteries, churches and oriental fortresses, which evoke the atmospheres of Mount Athos, Armenia, Syria and Turkey, and Latin castles, churches and monasteries to the point that the visitor will seem to be in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain or England. It is an itinerary that connects some places that bear witness to the life of many Eastern and Western scholars, monks and saints, true and grandiose pillars of Western civilization. A spiritual journey of Christianity, pilgrimage and oral memory that hands down and praises the deeds of the Greek and Latin heroes and the exploits of the Orlando and medieval paladins ”.
President Tallini drew the conclusions according to which "Green Calabria, of Parks and Natural Reserves, will now be able to take advantage of an initiative that has the material and intangible potential to enhance nature and culture and, at the same time, be a formidable attraction for slow tourism which, in addition to the use itself, aims to get to know the territory. The strategy of relaunching the Calabrian environment and tourism, in 'phase 2' - he underlined - will be able to count on this initiative that we wanted to implement in the awareness that the 'journey' is an expanding social phenomenon, it constitutes a reason for where you choose a destination rather than another and the tourist who loves walking has become an important target to turn to in order to make it possible for him to appreciate the beauties of Calabria “.