San Floro: a tradition which becomes passion.

A day dedicated to the sightseeing of San Floro, the village of the silk on the hills nearby Catanzaro.

Panorama at San Floro.

This time we made a sightseeing of San Floro, a little village near Catanzaro, on its green hills facing the Ionian sea. It was called “the village of the giants”, because a legend tells a story about the height of its people who became shorter as time went by. As we arrived, we looked out over the belvedere and enjoyed the beautiful sea view.

The welcoming

In the main little square, we were welcomed by Miriam and her great smile: she took us around her village telling stories about it and showing beautiful views. We started from the Museum of Silk which is situated inside an old castle of the 1400s: here there are handmade clothes typifying their old tradition and many other old tools.

The Museum of the Silk in San Floro.

In fact San Floro was famous for the breeding of silkworms, like other places in Calabria, and it represented a great business for these people. Nowadays, Miriam with Domenico and Giovanna have decided to continue this tradition and start a new business again.

The Museum of the Silk in San Floro.

So when we fished visiting the village, between its narrow streets and old buildings, Miriam took us out of the historical centre towards her farms inside a wonderful wood of mulberry trees.

San Floro hamlet.

After a short walk, we reached a big room where the silkworms are kept. They eat the leaves of the white mulberry trees and everyday they are carefully taken care of ensuring that they are clean and have enough leaves to eat in order to grow and eventually make the best quality silk. It’s a hard job that they do with great passion and enthusiasm.

Nido di Seta’s farm.

Outside we took part in the “reeling” activity, which is the unwinding of the cocoon to get the silk thread and they made us a bracelet which we were told, will last a long time thanks to its resistance. It’s so fascinating, because everything is done in a traditional way, as they did in the past.

The reeling.

Then we continued to walk until we reached a great secular pine where we found prepared for us some typical local dishes. 

The secular pine and lunch area.

The Mulberry jams that they make were so tasty that we decided to buy a little bit, in order to take home with us a piece of this wonderful day.

Mulberry blackberries.

If you go to San Floro, you can jump into the past and breathe a new and fresh traditional passion.

Brunella Brusco

Watch the video “San Floro, The village of silk.”