village – SMAF Ltd

4.9.2025

If you taste a Bergamot, be ready to travel through the mistery of the Greek Calabria, land of myth, isolated, wild, rural.

Inside the scent of this wonderful fruit you will find the hospitable and spiritual. The scent of a Greek landscape, in food, in religious traditions, in craftsmanship, in idioms: remember that between the Aspromonte and the Ionian, many elders still speak the language of Homer!

They will say to you:

“In the heart of Calabria, between sun-kissed hills and sea, grows the Bergamot of Reggio—a rare and precious fruit that tells the story of an authentic land.”

“Its unique fragrance, cherished around the world, embodies the essence of a place rich in millennia-old traditions and a genuine way of life.”

“Here, not only does bergamot thrive—an entire village comes to life. Strolling through its ancient alleys, breathing in the scent of citrus groves, means rediscovering an authentic rhythm of life.”

“Today, you can take home not just the taste of bergamot, but also the unique experience of this territory. Explore real estate opportunities in the village: a home among citrus groves, an authentic retreat in a land perfumed with bergamot.”

“Come visit our bergamot groves, taste the essence of Calabria, and let yourself be captivated by the idea of living here…”

_{IF NOW YOU ARE INTERESTED TO BUY A PROPERTY, WHERE BERGAMOT GROWS, click on the following picture and contact our no profit entity, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH US, which promotes the culture of repopulating abandoned villages in Calabria: APS COMUNITA’ BENEDICT…}www.aps-benedict.org

(Eng. traslation): **Where is Bergamot, discover its village, find a property, live there**

This fruit grows in the Grecanic area (which preserves deep Byzantine traces), from Pentedattilo to Bova, passing through Amendolea, Gallicianò, Roghudi, Chorìo, Roccaforte, Condofuri, Palizzi, Staiti, Sant’Agata del Bianco, Brancaleone, up to Africo, where the stranger is still a deity.

Our producers lives in the area of the urban archaeological park of Brancaleone Vetus (“ancient”), which looks down on the so called “Valley of Armenians” and its villages.

The gaze ranges from new Africo to the marina of Bruzzano, not only on bergamot plantations, but also on ancient vines and ancient olive trees.

The native goats, balanced on the steep walls of the mountains, among small groups of abandoned houses, have a prehistoric beauty.

THE SEA OF CORRADO ALVARO

The sea, in front of the land of bergamot, is like you’ve never seen it before. Needless to say that it is Caribbean: in the Greek navies of Calabria “the deserted sea lays like a child’s painting on the arc-shaped, white and solitary coast“, wrote Corrado Alvaro, a famous writer native of San Luca.

On the sandy beach, from Melito to Brancaleone, it will be easy to follow the turtle hatching: the environmentalists of the Caretta turtle Calabria Conservation association will guide you in the exploration.

This way your journey in Calabria, through the scent of bergamot, will become also a real experience of the richness of sea and a chance to learn new things.

Overall, you will find inside this sensorial experience, also the reminiscence of the museum of the Greek-Calabrian language of Bova, so named after the German linguist Gerhard Rohlfs.

He was the first to support the origin from Magna Graecia of the spoken language still living in the Hellenophonic villages and in the most inaccessible slopes of the southern Aspromonte.

The Greek Calabria is “like a relic” of 2500 years ago.

Local Shepherds are as repositories of secrets and ancient knowledge. For example, the music and the tarantellas “remember the sacred dances of the Greeks”.

This is the reason why the nuance of the green fruit of bergamot takes you directly in the land of the village of Pentedattilo, a small village which was recovered (this is a few houses perched on a rock that stands out like a giant hand)…You will discover, incidentally, that its name is the same greek word for a hand with five fingers!

Now Pentadattilo backs to life thanks to the commitment of the Pro Pentedattilo association.

Now there is a bar, shops, a hostel and a popular hotel. Every year the Pentedattilo film fest brings international cinema operators to the scene. And many fans: usually from 26 to 31 August. And here, you will find in every bar a very tasteful juice of bergamot!

**Etna volcano, a sight of Sicily from Aspromonte**

WHERE STAY / LOCAL ARTISANS

You sleep in characteristic B&Bs or in hotel houses. Hospitality is often managed by local cooperatives.

The flavors of the kitchen and of bergamot awaken pastoral memories. And only in Bova it is possible to choose between seven restaurants, which offers bergamot flavored dishes. Organic is a fact.

Further, here you will find the wooden or terracotta souvenirs, which are of fine craftsmanship, called the “pinakes“, the votive tablets that the Greeks printed in honor of Demetra, or the “musulupare“, carved wooden containers, with anthropomorphic forms, to shape the cheese.

Artisans made them in Melito, near Condofuri.

Along with collars for goats, bagpipes and old tools that are real pieces of art. Other local artists create delicious Greek madonnas with cherry, olive, medlar and chestnut branches.

**The mysterious monolith “Pietra Cappa”**

The ceramists elaborate Greekism in a contemporary key.

In their workshops on the outskirts of Reggio Calabria they mold enchanting artifacts that tell stories and myths of the Grecanic area, and of bergamot.

**Castle Ruffo, near Amendolea and Condofuri**

The designers in their small workshops in Delianuova (on the slopes of Aspromonte) realizes bijoux for high fashion with what nature offers: berries, leaves, pine cones, woods sea urchins, shells, starfish.

Also bergamots, citrus fruits, vine shoots, crystallized bread, hemp and hard stones. Land and sea become catwalk jewelry.

Conclusively: “The unique fragrance of Bergamot is born here, in Calabria, among citrus groves overlooking the sea and hills rich in history.
This precious fruit is the symbol of an authentic and unparalleled territory.
But there’s more than just bergamot here: there’s a vibrant village that welcomes and offers the chance to make a dream come true.
Imagine a home surrounded by greenery, immersed in tradition, nature, and unique flavors.
Today, you can take home not just bergamot, but also a piece of Calabria.
Visit our bergamot groves and let yourself be captivated by the real estate opportunities in the village. The future smells of authenticity!”

_{IF NOW YOU ARE INTERESTED TO VISIT THE LAND, WHERE BERGAMOT GROWS, click on the following picture and contact our trusted hospitality, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH US, which promotes the tourism in the old fashioned villages in Calabria: VILLA TIGANI...}www.villatigani.com/

calabria

Esplora una regione bagnata da due mari e coperta di boschi di pini, misteriosi paesi, habitat naturali, biodiversità, enogastronomia. Programma una visita turistica presso l’operatore di fiducia, VILLA TIGANI, Davoli

contatta lo sponsor

REMEMBER THE ELDERS MOTTO:

“Where bergamot is born, the soul of Calabria lives.”

“The scent of a fruit, the story of a land.”

“Bergamot: the essence that tells our territory’s tale.”

THEY ALSO SAY: TASTE AND VISIT THE VILLAGE AND THE HOMES…

“Not just bergamot: a village to live in, a home to love.”

“A unique fruit, an authentic village, a secure investment.”

“Live where bergamot grows.”

“Take home the bergamot, discover the village, experience Calabria.”

“From fruit to home: the scent of bergamot guides you to the village.”

“Invest in authenticity: bergamot, land, and tradition.”

25.5.2021

In order to understand the relationship that a Calabrian village, or in general of the Mediterranean, has with music, classical, light or pop need to have a bit of imagination, instead of having little …

In fact, this relationship is completely natural.

Just think of the boys joking at the central bar of the village, half-sleeping in the sun while they sip wine or a coffee, while the radio is spreading music from an amplifier or you hear the sound of an old jukebox or of a guitar more or less intoned in an alley. It will often be just a pop piece, rarely an old Neapolitan song, remixed.

If the piece is a very old success of Renato Carosone (i.e. O ‘Sarracino) then the doors of time open up on the music of the Mediterranean which, – as, more generally, its culture – is the synthesis of what happened here during the course of the centuries.

The saracens of Carosone in these parts are not just an ancient memory, good to describe a fascinating “Latin Lover”, – on the contrary, of these marauders has also remained a legacy, still completely visible today, in the architecture of the villages (crowded as a defensive fort), but above all perched for reasons of defense from these invaders, the Ottoman Turks, on the hills in front of the sea. This is for example evident for villages as Davoli, Badolato or S. Andrea on Ionio.

The Saracens are just one of the invisible appearances of the past, which still lives in costumes and songs. Since ancient times, the Mediterranean has been crossed by many other men, peoples and nations, all in search of news and conquests and animated by the desire for knowledge and domination: the sea and the villages on the sea have been at the same time a border and a joining point for the peoples who have lived on its coasts.

The outcome has not been a simple fusion of languages, costumes, sounds and colors, during the millennia, in reality it has been also the birth of a common substrat, which can very well be manifested by so called “Mediterranean music”.

For example, in the Neapolitan song there is still a clear eco from ancient Arab music, which with its numerical organization (the shades, the jokes, the solfeggio) is the root itself of European music (and do not forget that the numbers we use today, present in musical score, are “Arabic”). Not only: the medieval music, from which the Mediterranean music comes and, in general, the western one have taken from the Arabic one, sounds, shapes and instruments. The typical instruments of our contemporary musicians are also linked to this tradition (i.e., Arab, Muslim, Saracen or Turkish, which you want to). Pay attention, for a moment, to those typical musical instruments, not only of Southern Italy, and of Naples, but also of today’s pop music (drums, guitar, winds, strings and various percussion types), and you will find out suddenly that the mandolin, a typical instrument of Neapolitan music and nephew par excellence of the ancient Arabic instrument, the “Ud“, also called Al’ Oud, is actually the ancestor of many instruments of today.

GUITAR AND MEDITERRANEAN RHYTHM

In fact, the guitar and many other string instruments derived from the mandolin, perhaps almost all the instrumental tradition of classical and cultured music (violets, violins, cello, double bass, etc.).

The mandolin and other Arabic and Saracen instruments came to the West through Bisanzio, the Crusades, Mussulmanian Spain and Arabic Sicily. Then the Western and Mediterranean Middle Ages inherited these and other instruments from the Arab world; just think of the lute, that is properly the ‘OUD, from which derives the Renaissance lute, the Calascione, the mandola, the mandololcello and the mandolino and, as mentioned, the Moorish guitar, the Andalusian guitar, the Psalter (from the Santur), various types of violins, etc.

At the same time, we do not have to neglect that almost all modern percussion (drums, snare drums, etc.) derive from the Arab drum, that is from the tabor.

It is understood, then, as by Muslim Spain these sounds have spread to all those countries of Europe that are limited to the Mediterranean basin and there they are distributed in the world … it is also clear how in Italy, from Arabic Sicily, this musicality has invaded all the sound culture of Southern Italy and in particular the Neapolitan one … up to Carosone and to the most sophisticated Hip Hop!

In fact, in today’s light music is still a trace of the “serenades” or “mornings” (love songs of the night and of the morning), so widespread in the Naples of Fredeyick II that in 1221 the emperor tried even to prohibe them by decree, to protect public quiet.

…

In the chant of old songs of a farmer in the village or of a boy at the bar is therefore hidden and concealed the authenticity of a culture rich in history, traditions and science, which nowadays mixes in the light of day, with the daily life of the villages, … as a background noise.

CHANT OF AN AFAR COUNTRY

Every man and woman of any country has a special love for its places and the people who live there. We dedicate this short lyrics of a master musical opus of the very famous Finnish composer, Sibelius, to eveyone loves (in music, and not only) his/her land…

^{THIS IS MY SONG (Finlandia )}

^{This is my song, O God of all the nations, / A song of peace for lands afar and mine. /This is my home, the country where my heart is, /Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.}

^{But other hearts in other lands are beating, / With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine./My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, /And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.}

^{But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, /And skies are everywhere as blue as mine. /O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, / A song of peace for their land and for mine.}

^{(Jan Sibelius – 1899 / Wds Lloyd Stone – 1934)}

Tag: village

Bergamot, the land

calabria

Mediterranean music

^{THIS IS MY SONG (Finlandia )}

^{This is my song, O God of all the nations, / A song of peace for lands afar and mine. /This is my home, the country where my heart is, /Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.}

^{But other hearts in other lands are beating, / With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine./My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, /And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.}

^{But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, /And skies are everywhere as blue as mine. /O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, / A song of peace for their land and for mine.}