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What to do in Celico?

Celico is a small town, little known by tourists, but it has the power to surprise its visitors. Shall we learn more?

By Ana Patricia Da Silva
Ana Patricia in Celico, Calábria
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Introduction

Celico is a place full of history, but also natural beauty, as its territory includes important areas of the Sila plateau such as Fago del Soldato and the small rural districts of Lagarò, Salerni, Muzzo, Torrebarone, Calamauci and Serra Giumenta. Furthermore, more than half of Lake Cecita is within its territory. Let’s get to our post of the day! What to do in Celico? Here at Travel to Calabria you make the trip of your dreams!!! Are you staying in Calabria? LOOKING FOR A HOTEL IN CALABRIA? Check our suggestions! Click here!

What can we visit in Celico?

1) What to do in Celico? VISIT THE SAN MICHELE PARISH CHURCH

The parish church of San Michele, whose first construction, according to some, dates back to the ninth century and houses numerous works of great importance from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A small jewel in the church is a glass chalice, perhaps from the third century. The ceiling painted by Cristoforo Santanna is interesting. See all the posts about Calabria!

2) What to do in Celico? VISIT THE MOTHER CHURCH

It is also worth visiting the Mother Church dedicated to S. Nicola di Bari, built in the 16th century, as suggested by an inscription on the portal.

Planning Your Travel to Calabria? Remember that if you need transfers, tour guide, interpreter or help in finding citizenship documents, you can count on me! Just send me an email.

3) What to do in Celico? VISIT THE CHURCH OF SAINT SOPHIA AND THE CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION

The Church of St Sophia is also worth seeing, and the Church of the Assumption, built on the site of Gioacchino da Fiore’s house, is also very interesting. Read also: what are the ten places must see in Calabria?

4) What to do in Celico? VISIT THE MUSEUM OF RURAL TRADITIONS

We also highlight the Museum of Rural Traditions of the Silano Plateau, where the traditional work and domestic environments of the Silano Plateau are documented. The museum is divided into four thematic sections: woods, pastures, fields and Casino Lupinacci. Address: Via Roma, 49 – Celico, Cosenza – Calabria (see map as Via 49). Read also: eight Steps To Start Your Family Tree

Golden Tip

  • If you are traveling or passing through Celico at the end of August, I highly advise you to participate in the Sagra della Patata (from August 30th to September 1st).

What is Sagra?

The Lagarò Potato Festival in Celico presents one of the main products of Silana agriculture: the potato. At the festival you will find food stalls and tastings of typical local specialties and, above all, you will experience a typical village party!.

Attractions Map in Celico, Calabria!

What to do in Celico?
Source: Google Maps

Valuable Tips

  • Celico offers tourists so many alternatives for trips close by that it is worthwhile, for example, visiting the towns of Cosenza and Camigliatello, in Sila Grande. In addition, around Celico there are several very beautiful villages that I highly recommend visiting, such as: Spezzano della Sila, Spezzano Piccolo, Pedace, Serra Pedace and Rovito, accessible by the train that runs along Camigliatello Silano to Cosenza.
  • For those who want to ski: Camigliatello Silano Ski Resort (Mount Curcio). Opened in the winter season 2001-2002, the Monte Curcio cable car is the most modern in south-central Italy. It can transport 1800 people per hour and the station facilities are modern and efficient. The resort has two ski slopes and a cross-country ski slope. The first two tracks are blue and red, covering a distance of 4.3 km, with an excellent team of monitors. In 2019, the integrated ski pass was introduced for the 2 ski resorts in the area. The Sila and the ski resorts

Are you enjoying our content? So discover our e-book with amazing tips on itineraries, awesome places where you can taste the best of the Calabria flavor, where to sleep and much more! Make your Travel To Calabria unique with our practical guide!

Let’s talk a little more about Celico

Its origins are linked to the birth of the “Casali”, around the 9th century, after a sequence of Saracen incursions into the city of Cosenza, as a result of which the Cosentini took refuge in the Silana area where small villages inhabited by shepherds already existed.

The Current Historic Center

The current Historic Center originally consists of four distinct and separate agglomerations or “cedules”, namely:

  1. Celico Calderazzi: an important Jewish settlement located in the lower part of the city;
  2. Celico Cerzito: part that surrounds the Church of San Michele;
  3. Celico Supranisi: upper part towards the Cemetery;
  4. Minnito: highest part on the opposite side.

“The Cedules”

After the Saracen attacks on Cosenza, “the cedule” became increasingly populated and developed until they found solutions of continuity, thus constituting a single large cell identified as Celico Soprano and Sottano and, thus standing out from the others, the cedule of Minnito.

Now let’s meet Gioacchino da Fiore

In 1130 Abbot Joachim was born, better known as Gioacchino da Fiore, certainly the most important man of his century, the only Calabrian mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy; a man of great personality and charisma who influenced all the thinking of his time and beyond. That’s how Celico became the most important center of the villages, becoming a pilgrimage destination and frequented by men of culture.

The importance and cultural vivacity resulting from the presence of Gioacchino, the proximity to Cosenza, also favored by an excellent road network that connects Celico to the city (for which the community of Celico never felt isolated from the cultural context of Cosenza), allowed the history of Celico to be filled with important characters in various sectors.

With the facts exposed above, we conclude that with the birth of Gioacchino, Celico became the most important center of the villages in that part of Sila, becoming a pilgrimage destination and frequented by men of culture. Celico’s artistic heritage is therefore also linked to this important figure.

The origin of the name “Celico”

Two theses are opposed on the origin of the name: the first derives the name “Celico” from “Heavenly Man” with explicit reference to Abbot Joachim who was born there. In fact, in Battaglia’s “great dictionary of the Italian language”, the entry Celico reads: “Man of divine virtue, learned voice, Latin coelicus, celestial”. The other thesis, by Vincenzo Padula, derives “Celico” from the Hebrew “Keli-ic” (large and narrow vessel) from the shape of the inhabited center that extended, albeit with interruptions, on the crest of the mountain.

Between the two, the second is more likely, for the simple fact that it is not believed that until the 13th century (after the death of Joachim) the village still did not have a name.

What about today? What do people in Celico do for a living?

In the past, agriculture represented the main activity along with the timber industry and livestock. In addition, some craft activities were also important, such as the production of wool, silk and fabrics, and the cultivation of mulberry trees to raise silkworms. Today, agriculture continues to be an important activity on the plateau and essentially concerns livestock and potato cultivation. A large part of the population works in Cosenza, a nearby town.

Are you going to stay in Celico?

Know that by booking on our blog through Booking.com you will be helping to maintain our website and you will not pay anything more for that, as the reservation service is FREE. That is, no booking or administrative fees, and reservations can be canceled for free.

Where to stay in Celico? Manfredi Agriturismo

Very well located, Agriturismo Pietro Falcone is surrounded by the hills of Calabria, with rustic accommodation and all the comfort you need to rest on your trip.

  • Star Rating: 8,4 (Very Good!)
  • Average coast: US$ 50*
  • Location: The hotel is 8 km from Cosenza Cathedral and 18 km from Lake Cecita
  • Address: Contrada Malandrino 5, 87053 Celico, Italy
  • Services: Free WiFi, private parking, covered terrace, garden, hypoallergenic facilities, massage services (additional cost).
  • Breakfast: Yes
  • (*) the value is an average of the daily rate for two people; values may vary by season, without prior notice.

To know more and reserve this hotel, click here!

Where to eat in Celico? Enosteria “il Paese”

If you are looking for typical Italian food in Celico, we recommend Enosteria II Paese, specializing in Italian food and, especially, calabrese.

Watch this video and let’s go in a Tour in Cosenza!

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Conclusion

What to do in Celico? YES! For those who want to get to know a little different part of Italy, I invite you to come to Celico, you’ll love it! It’s another village that I recommend for those looking for authentic tourism based on experiencing the pace of local life. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with Celico’s alleyways.

Source of our text: https://www.comune.celico.cs.it/index.php?action=index&p=408

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Best regards from Calábria

Ana Patricia Da Silva

My name is Ana Patricia, I am Italian-Brazilian, been living for 15 years in Italy, graduated in Librarianship at the State University of Londrina-UEL in Londrina-PR, in Scienze del Turismo at the University of Calabria and have a Master’s degree in Cultural Tourism by the Fondação Garrone, partner of University of Catania in Sicily. I am the only tour guide in Calabria that speaks Portuguese, and also have been qualified as tourist guide in Europe. I am also the creator / founder of Touristico - Consultoria Itália Brasil.

Since 2012, I´ve been working with the enhancement and promotion of Italian territory in general and, since (2015) in a more specific and concrete way, I have been promoting this wonderful region (still little known by many people) called Calabria!

Our website will provide information about the more “tourist-friendly” Calabria and the less touristy – and therefore more authentic – Calabria, the one entrenched among medieval towns! This region has many medieval villages embedded in rocks, often built overlooking the sea, to protect themselves against Saracen invasions or in pleasant panoramic corners where life still happens according to the rhythm of each season.

Come and visit Calabria with me!!!
This region will surprise you! Ana Patricia Tour Guide in Calabria

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