San Lorenzo Bellizzi

The San Lorenzo area is a small treasure chest of scenic beauty. It is, moreover, the heart of the Calabrian side of the Pollino Park and is, therefore, the ideal point to reach the highest part through the Grande Porta. Most of the Raganello gorges wind through the territory. San Lorenzo Bellizzi is all within a circle of mountains interrupted by the deep furrow of the Raganello and has notable differences in altitude: from the highest peaks in the south you go to Pietraponte and the Crangere, where the winters are very mild, from the high pastures you go to Santa Venere, where the orange blossoms, from the bare timpe you go to thickets of holm oaks and laurel. Worth visiting is the church of S. Lorenzo, which has an interior in local stone decorated with masks and contains numerous artefacts such as monstrances, pyxes and silver chalices. Also not to be missed is the Church of the Carmine, which houses many highly crafted processional statues from the 18th century.