Diamante

on the seaside village of diamond is located on the tyrrhenian coast north-western part of Calabria. Placed at the center of the Riviera dei Cedri, possesses one of the only two islands of Calabria, the island of Cirella, a tiny islet from an evocative shape and from the wild flora where the depths are splendid and reigns the silver Posidonia.

Different sources documenting settlements already from the times of Focesi colonies and the Romans. The first news of the birth of a true and proper inhabited places of diamond date back to 1500, when the Prince Sanseverino ordered the construction of a defensive location to counteract the Saracen raids. Around the tower of Sanseverino arose later a fortification of the territory to the work of the prince of Bisignano Tiberio Carafa, master of the territories of Belvedere Marittimo and Diamond already from 1622. At the end of the turkish raids, the population from the countryside moved toward the sea by increasing the commercial dealings. Subsequently affluent and Neapolitan traders, Amalfi and salernitani, and noble families, also of Spanish origin settled there for the position and the pleasantness of the place giving life to the inhabited center.

Diamond soon became a discrete center for agriculture and fisheries, thanks to the large fleet and the production of cedar. The special characteristics of this citrus fruit in his native variety called smooth cedar Diamond (large cut and perfumed, used largely for candying), made it unique and famously known on the world market; thanks to its massive exports to Israel and the United States, where it was used by the Jewish community that on the occasion of the feast of Sukkot sent their rabbis to select it, cedar became a heading economic consisting of the Community budget.

What portrays Diamond as a postcard is the famous promenade of old, overlying the cliff overlooking the port, that imposing and cured in the details hosts thousands of people every summer. It is also known as the village of murals, by the numerous paintings that can be admired while strolling through the alleys of the historical center initially and subsequently have spread to a large part of the village.

BY CAR

• From the north, take the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway to the Lagonegro Nord exit; take the SS 585 and merge onto the SS 18 Tyrrhenian south, up to Diamante.
• From the south or from Lamezia Terme airport, take the A3 and take the exit for Falerna; take the SS 18 Tirrenica north to Diamante.

ON THE TRAIN

• Scalea railway station
• Paola railway station

BY PLANE

• S. Eufemia International Airport (Lamezia Terme)