Tropea
Discover Tropea
A concise introduction to Tropea, its geography, history and culture.
Introduction
Tropea is a town of about 6,000 people on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, in the province of Vibo Valentia.
The old town sits entirely on top of a sandstone cliff, its houses built flush to the edge so that the drop to the beach begins at their back walls. The streets behind are narrow and lined with the palaces of a small local nobility, and the cathedral, Norman in origin, stands at the centre.
Below the cliff a beach runs to the rock of Santa Maria dell'Isola, a Benedictine sanctuary on what was an island until sand joined it to the shore.
The coast either side is the Costa degli Dei, running south to the granite headland of Capo Vaticano. On clear days the Aeolian Islands are visible offshore, with Stromboli often showing a plume.
Tropea is also famous for an onion: the sweet red cipolla rossa, grown along this coast.