Parco Nazionale dell'Aspromonte

former S.Francesco monastery - Piazza tre Chiese

89040 Gerace (RC)

Municipality: Gerace

Region: Calabria

The Gerace Visitor Center is housed in the S. Francesco Monastery, in the old town center of the municipality of Gerace.
This visitor center's theme is the "Locris and the Magna Graecia", as a tribute to the historical origin of one of the most ancient settlements among those relating to the first Greek colonization.
Through didactic panels and simultaneous videos the museum within the structure offers a journey in the history concerning the human settlement in this area, which here realized itself with the foundation of Locri Epizefirii by the Greeks. These places' nature led people to move from the coasts to the mountains, when during the Byzantine age the coasts became unhealthy. The Gerace Visitor Center has the task to inform visitors on the cultural resources of the region called Locris in order to promote it.
Among the historic-artistic goods, besides the S. Francesco monastery, it is worth mentioning the Cathedral dating back to the 11th/12th century, where it is possible to admire the precious marble columns coming from the temples and the villas from the age of the Magna Graecia.