Riace

Riace sits on the Serre foothills above the Ionian, in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, with the small frazione of Riace Marina at sea level two kilometers below. Two stories collide here. In August 1972, a snorkeller off Riace Marina found two life-size Greek warriors lying on the seabed at eight meters depth: the Bronzi di Riace, two of the finest surviving Greek bronzes, now in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria.

Three decades later, under mayor Domenico Lucano, Riace became the centre of one of Europe's most-studied refugee resettlement experiments: by 2011 around 450 refugees from twenty countries were living among 1,800 residents, the village school reopened, and abandoned houses were converted to host families. The project was prosecuted, then partially vindicated; Lucano was re-elected mayor and elected to the European Parliament in 2024.

From Lamezia / Reggio (SUF), about 1h 42m by car.

Naples / Salerno (NAP) is about 5h 43m away.

By car from the centre of Salerno 5 hours, Bari 5h 41m or Naples 5h 43m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Every town within reach of Lamezia / Reggio airport.