Among the Sila mountains, San Giovanni in Fiore

We are more than a thousand meters above sea level: we are going to visit San Giovanni in Fiore, the capital of the Silan area, the most important center of the plateau, both for tourist activities, as well as for commercial and artisan ones. The nucleus of San Giovanni in Fiore consists of an ancient center of religious radiation; in 1189, Abbot Gioacchino, a Cistercian monk, built the small hospice of Albaneto, with the aim of offering shelter to travelers. The abbey was subsequently dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, to the Madonna and to the Holy Spirit, where the town was gradually born. In the center of the town, inside the square, we find the crypt, on which the splendid abbey of the city was built, the Florense Abbey, the religious building with the largest single nave in Calabria. We still admire the Convent of the Capuchin Friars, the Church of San Francesco da Paola and the Monastery of the Tre 'Fanciulli. Before leaving this wonderful town, we admire the monument of the Fallen of Monongah, passing through the Norman arch which, together with the Florense Abbey, constitute the symbols of the city.