Tropea stands on a sandstone bluff on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, its old town perched directly above beaches so pale and clear that the scene is often mistaken for the Caribbean.
Palazzi from centuries of prosperity crowd the cliff edge, and from the belvedere the sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola sits on its own rocky outcrop just offshore, once the seat of Basilian monks and later of Benedictines from Montecassino. The Norman cathedral in yellow stone keeps the icon of the Madonna di Romania. On a clear evening, Stromboli smokes on the horizon. The town’s sweet red onion, grown in the sandy coastal soil and protected by an IGP designation, shows up in nearly every restaurant.
