When you reach the extreme southern tip of the Italian peninsula, a stop in Scilla becomes inevitable.

Scilla is not just a village.

The tip of Calabria already feels a little like Sicily: Stromboli on the horizon watches over this stretch of coast with its ever-present cap of smoke, as if calmly reflecting on what to do next. It brings to mind fishermen gazing out at the sea.

Then there is the pylon, standing high above, which for decades, through several kilometers of electric cables, served as the physical point of connection between Calabria and Sicily.

But more than anything else, what immediately captures your eye upon arrival is the Ruffo of Calabria Castle. Perched on the tip of the rocky spur overlooking the sea, it speaks of history and noble families. On either side of the castle, two different worlds unfold: on one side, Marina Grande, with its beach, seaside promenade, and everything a seaside resort offers its visitors; on the other, Chianalea, the fishermen’s quarter, with houses built directly over the water, narrow alleys, stairways, and boats that are not there for tourists’ photographs, but head out to sea for fishing, especially swordfish fishing.

And even those who have never seen Scilla and do not even know exactly where it is have heard of the myth of Scylla and Charybdis, the monsters who, on one side and the other of the Strait of Messina, left no escape for the vessels daring enough to cross this stretch of sea between Calabria and Sicily.
Scylla, a land monster, lured ships toward the rocky Calabrian coast, leading them to destruction; Charybdis, a sea monster, swallowed in its whirlpools off the shores of Sicily those who managed to pass beyond Scylla. Likely originating from the powerful currents that make navigation difficult, the myth has traveled far beyond this small corner of the Mediterranean.

There are places that are easy to describe: Scilla is not one of them.
Here, you must stop, eat a swordfish sandwich while looking out at the sea in the shadow of the castle, listen to the waves breaking against the houses of Chianalea, and breathe in the aromas of food drifting from open windows at mealtime.

Scilla is that collection of intimate, personal sensations in which the memories of a special journey reside.

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