Girifalco: the narrowest point of the boot

Girifalco is an Italian town in the province of Catanzaro and is located precisely in the narrowest point of the boot: the isthmus of Catanzaro. The town is located in an elevated position on the hills and from here you can see the two seas: the Ionian and the Mediterranean. The area of the 'old poplars' now no longer inhabited, was the main center of the city where many cultural events are now held. The area had been destroyed by two earthquakes and today there are only ruins, made safe with a redevelopment. The most important square is Piazza Umberto I, which can be reached through suggestive alleys, and where you can admire the ducal palace. There are many religious architectures in the area that represent a treasure and an attraction: the Matrice church, the church of the Holy Rosary, the church of San Rocco is also worth a visit, in full Baroque style, to which the citizens are very attached and devoted . In fact, it seems to have arisen following an apparition of the Saint. Next to it, you can admire a Baroque fountain built by a mayor in the 17th century. There is a popular legend about it that says it was the devil who erected the fountain in just one night. A very important place for the town over the years has been the psychiatric hospital, one of the largest in the south, today a nursing home. It is a monumental complex that has changed the fortunes of the village and which today applies modern studies for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients. Craftsmanship is another inexhaustible source of the place and translates into a ceramic workshop specializing in majolica, and a goldsmith's workshop. However, nature is always the protagonist, in fact there is an ornithological center here, the only one in Calabria, given that the place is an obligatory passage for the migrations of many birds.