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The town of Melicuccà, in the province of Reggio Calabria, is a must-visit for lovers of poetry in Calabria. This is the birthplace of the poet Lorenzo Calogero, one of the most important voices of 20th-century Italy, and the annual Poetry Festival, conceived and promoted by Nino Cannatà, is dedicated to him.
Giuseppe Ungaretti said of him: "This Lorenzo Calogero has diminished us all". Solitary and still little-known today, Calogero has made Melicuccà one of the most exciting literary destinations in Calabria.
In addition to the house museum, reached after a picturesque walk through the narrow streets, Melicuccà offers visitors the beauty of an old town full of historic buildings and churches, looking on to the large olive groves that surround the town. Worth seeing: the churches of St John the Baptist, St Anthony of Padua, St Roch and the recently-restored Church of the Rite (or of Loreto), a tiny gem found in Piazza Tocco and an ancient site of the Knights of Malta. Inside, you can admire the 16th-century holy water font and bas-relief depicting the transport of the Holy House to Loreto (hence the name of the church itself), commonly attributed to Antonello Gagini.
The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, on the other hand, houses the relics of St Elijah the Cave-Dweller, the saint of Basilian origin whose hermitage, known as the Grotta di Sant'Elia Speleota, is located a short distance from the building. As the saint's name suggests, the hermitage is carved from the rock and has a monastery and outbuildings (including a cellar, mill, necropolis and winepress) dating from the 10th century. It is one of the most significant pieces of archaeological evidence of Byzantine Greek culture in Calabria.
