La Giara B&B

We had an incredible surprise when we arrived at 9pm after a long day driving from Rome. Rosalia is a wonderful hostess! She welcomed us so well even though we booked with a little less than 2 hours notice. The room is spotless clean and recently renovated. Bathroom has basic toiletries and even a hair dryer. She recommended two pizza places that were open until midnight! Being a small town, surrounded by farms, we thought nothing would be available at that time of the night. Breakfast was superb! Simple but with superior quality ingredients: a fresh bread with delicious prosciutto/cheese, creamy cappuccino, the most sweet peach I’ve ever had, and great local juice mix. We were in awe of how satisfying and tasty everything was! Rosalia also owns an agriturismo and her family grows olives and produces their own olive oil. The mountains , endless olive and grape plantations, bucolic scenery was an unforgettable surprise on our route down to Sicily. If you need a place to stay, the short detour to San Demetrio Corone will be a wonderful experience!!

If you are looking for a place that offers an insight in the local culture I can warmly recommend this BnB. San Demetrio Corone is a trilingual village where people speak Calabrian, Italian and often Arbëresh (Italo-Albanian) a protected local language which has survived since the 16th century. Due to its location looking to the hilly landscape of the Ionian coast with a mild climate, the little town is famous for its olive oil and you are right here at the source where it is produced. The place is well kept and clean and during hot summer days you stay much better here than down at the coast. Medieval and antique monuments are close at Rossano and Sibari, San Demetrio has the Archimandritate San Adriano. In its history it was a centre of Greek monasticism under the Normans, by the end of the 18th century it educated the Arbëresh priests to celebrate the Byzantine rite and it is one of the important classical colleges of Southern Italy. The Abbey church is famous for its medieval floor mosaics of a snake. Its form inspired for a local cake spiced with origano (la riganata). You should ask for it at the place, where you take the breakfast. Who is more interested in nature finds nearby the Ionian and the Thyrrhenian sea and the national parks Pollino and Sila grande.