About Castrovillari, Cosenza province, Calabria region
A town of 22,000 people in Calabria, Castrovillari sits 362 metres above sea level, and is a terrific base for visitors to the Pollino national park, one of the largest in Europe. The name is probably Latin in derivation - it doesn’t take much imagination to corrupt ‘castrum villarum’ (for ‘fortress of the villas’) to its modern day name, but Castrovillari was largely created by the Aragonese, the Spanish invaders of much of southern Italy in the Middle Ages. They constructed the huge castle (the Castello Aragonese) which dominates the town.
Other sights in Castrovillari are the Church of San Giuliano, the Franciscan convent, the church of Madonna del Castello, and the Ponte della Catena (Bridge of the Chain), which connects the two halves of the city. The town sits in a spectacular natural arena, framed by mountains such as Dolcedorme (2273m) and Pollino (2248m).
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