Hannibal’s Fortress

It feels good to be back in the saddle again.  Carol and Roger are riding along the south coast of Calabria.

Calabria is the southern-most part of the Italian peninsula.  The “toe” of the boot.

We started just outside the hectic city of Reggio Calabria and rode to Crotone….right along the Ionian Sea all the way.

Calabria is one of the poorest parts of Italy.  People make their livings by fishing…

 …or farming.

Much of the citrus Italians eat…oranges and lemons…come from Calabria.

The big energy companies have invested heavily in windmills that follow the shoreline to catch the sea breezes.

Calabria is supposed to be sunny virtually all year.  Our luck didn’t hold, but we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.

The highlight of our ride along the sole of the boot was the Fortress at Capo Rizzuto.

Legend has it that this was the place where Calypso hypnotized Odysseus and held him hostage for five years before he convinced Zeus to free him from the spell.  The fortress contains remnants of a wall built in the ancient Greek style.

The fortress itself was built by Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War, 218 to 202 BC.

After crossing the Alps with his elephants, he defeated the Roman army just south of the River Po.  Instead of driving toward Rome, Hannibal faked right and went left…marching down the Adriatic coast into Puglia (the “heel” of the Italian boot) and on to Calabria.  Fearing the Roman army would  at attack his rear, he built this fortress in 208 BC.

Over the centuries, the fortress slowly fell into disrepair, until 1494.  By this point, Calabria was ruled by the Spanish as part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilys.  King Ferdinand, fearing invasion by the Ottoman Turks, built a series of forts along the Ionian and Southern Adriatic coasts, one very 5-15km.  Right around Capo Rizzuto, there were seven forts built on islands.  The other six island forts sank into the sea.  Only this one remains.

The towers apparently prevented the Turks from staging a full-fledged invasion.  

Instead, the Turks settled for a series of raids up and down the coast.  The worst was in Otranto on the Adriatic…where 800 civilians were butchered in one day when they refused to give up their Christian faith and convert to Islam.