It is the second port-town of Calabria, a commercial and small industrial center that hasn't forgotten its old peasant lineage nowadays expanded in modern farms. To overlook Vibo is the Castle erected by order of Ruggero the Norman and used by Frederick II and the Angevins as a defensive bastion. It is just at the foot of the big Castle that the oldest part of the town with its narrow and tangled streets stretches. On a hill you can find the ruins of the ancient Hipponion, a colony of Magna Graecia. Some pieces of the walls, some towers and the foundations of some temples are still well preserved.

 

The modern part, Instead, stretches on an underneath terrace. Vibo is at 476 meters above sea level; along the coast there is Vibo Marina, a trade and fishing port. The architec­tural and artistic monuments of Vibo are the Church of the Rosario with its fourteenth century chapel; the Renaissance Church of S. Michele built by Peruzzi. One must visit even the Cathedral of S. Leo luca of 1680. It is the most religious place and inside one can admire the baroque features, the towers and the friezes such as the 'altar of the Triptych by Gagini, a sixteenth century Madonna by Santacroce and a painting of the Sienese School potraying S. Caterina. The bronze portals dedicated to weather by the sculptor Giuseppe Niglia have a very imposing appearance. Very beautiful is the Valentianum. A Renaissance building with a cloister attached to the Cathedral, in 1455 it became a Dominican Convent, afterwards, around 1500, it was worked over by the duke Pignatelli.

 

The Valentianum today is the seat of the Curia of Mileto, Nicotera and Tropea. Besides the walls of ancient Hipponion at Trappeto, in the country there are wards of Telegrafo and Corfino the ruins of temples and the villa of Sicca where Cicero sojourned several times, even the followers of St. Basil were a guest in Vibo and just out of town one can admire the tenth century templet of S. Ruba. In another country ward of Vibo, at S. Aloe, there are ruins of the Roman Baths. During the historical events, Vibo assumed the name of Monteleone. As it has been mentioned at the beginning, the economy of the town and of the neighborhood interlaces with the solid commercial activity of the port, but even agriculture and industry make their considerable contribution to the income. Agriculture is essentially based on the production of olives and oil, citrus and grapes. As far as industry is concerned, there are cement works, railway materials works and synthetic resins works. In Vibo there are large fuel deposits. Vibo is well known for its handcrafts that range from the terra cottas to the ceramics and the textiles.

 

History of Vibo Valentia

 

Of Sicuian origin, it was a Magna Graecia colony named Hipponion. At first it was a satellite town of the powerful Locri. During this period it enormously strengthened its commercial power, thanks to its port and its military capabilities, attaining a consider­able development and a great influence on the Tyrrhenian coast. It became so great that it changed its alliance accepting Gerone's protection, the tyrant of Syracuse. The revolt against Locri became a real war won by Hipponion in 422 B.C. However, even the alliance with Syracuse didn't last and in 389 B.C. it was the protagonist of the conflict of Elleporo against the Siculan town.

 

This arouses Dionisio IL Vecchio's anger, and some time after he attacked Hipponion destroying it. The Tyrrhenian town was rebuilt, about ten years later by the Carthaginians who turned it into a military base. The Greeks and the Bruzi competed for it and ruled on it by turns until, or in 276 or just in 192, one still doesn't know, it became a Roman property being called Valentia, even if the town was commonly called Vibo, an epithet of “italica” origin. The position and the importance of ancient Hipponion flourished again during the Byzantine Age, when it became a military fortress and an important strategic centre for Calabria. Attacked by the Saracen raids, it suffered two destructions: the first one in 850 and the second one in 983. It came back to its splendor thanks to the Normans. The town was rebuilt from the foundations by order of Frederick II who assigned this difficult enterprise to Matteo Marcofaba. Vibo Valentia changed its name again in Monteleone of Calabria.

 

The Norman Age was of great importance for the Tyrrhenian town that flaunted its economic capacities as well as its cultural talents and the contracting genius of its people through a town-planning development that went on from 1600 to 1700. Together with other Calabrian towns, Monteleone of Calabria, in 1799, took part in the revol­utionary uprisings and was fiercely put down by Cardinal Ruffo. During the Parthenopean Republic it carried on a prominent influence on the region. On August 27th 1860, it threw its doors open to the Garibaldian expedition off towards Naples.

 

Traditional Events

 

Every Saturday, in Vibo it's market day, here one can find the best and most original products that local and surrounding handcraft and gastronomy can offer. During the August Feast in Vibo, it is giving prominence to handicraft and sacred art.

 

Food and Wine

 

The Dairy products of Monte Poro are excellent and tasty. Visiting the Fileiia, particular homemade pasta made up and seasoned with different sauces. Local wines are excellent.