Gerace

Gerace is a small village rich in history, located in a rural district, and included in the guarded area of the National Park of Aspromonte. The village has a great history, environment and many remarkable monuments, so it is, each year, the destination of numerous tourists and visitors. The village has a considerable experience in taking care of its territory, culture and rural richness. The municipality of Gerace has the objective of to promote the local development of his territory. The village of Gerace has such a great heritage in culture to be considered the most important historical centre in Calabria. The village is rich in art and historical monuments of considerable importance, like a Romanesque – Norman cathedral dating back to the 11th c. which is the largest church in Southern Italy. Once, in the village there were 100 churches and 20 convents and it was considered a very relevant religious point to which people could refer. Now in the village there are about 20 churches and 8 convents, all of them can be visited and of particular architectural interest are two Byzantine churches dating back to the 9th c., a convent – church in gothic style dating back to the 14th c. in whose Interior stands a valuable baroque altar, several churches dating back to the 17th – 18th c. For this reason one of the main priorities in the Council administrative activities is to preserve and maintain its cultural heritage. The village have a population around 3.000 unity, but the more part of the population (60%) is elderly, because the youth people don’t like to live in a small centre located in rural district. The municipality of Gerace is working to promote an cultural and tourist development.