The sun setting on Stromboli is a spectacle of extraordinary beauty that could become a UNESCO heritage site. The candidacy is supported Calabria Mediterranean Network, a partnership made up of young Calabrian professionals who intend to promote and enhance the beauty of the places.
Stromboli, the sea and the sun: Mediterranean suggestions
When it is evening and the sky is clear from the Calabrian coast, you can admire the splendid scenery of the solar disk that slowly disappears in the Stromboli crater. The volcanic island is part of the beautiful Aeolian archipelago, one of the most attractive destinations in Mediterranean.
The sun that is 'enveloped' by the volcano, which is particularly active in the latter period, is truly a breathtaking natural spectacle. The chromatic shades of the sunset, the colors of the sea, the 'wisp of smoke' rising from the volcano they are a unique 'postcard' in the world that many hope will become a world heritage site.
Calabria Mediterranean Network
The idea of nominating the sunset on Stromboli as a Unesco heritage is of a group of young Calabrians who gave life to the Calabria Mediterranean Network. According to the members of the association, the evocative spectacle of the volcano that 'hides the sun in its bowels' has all the requisites required for candidacy.
Uniqueness, universality and irreplacability, these 'are the characteristics of the evening union between his majesty the sun and his height the volcano'. The requirements fall within the parameters indicated in the Convention Unesco on the heritage of humanity of 1972. The document concerns natural phenomena or atmospheres of significant natural beauty and objective aesthetic importance. Places and situations to be considered and therefore to be recognized as world heritage. Naturalistic riches for the protection of which the whole international community has the duty to cooperate. Another 17 institutional and social subjects joined the proposal.
Stromboli, one of the Aeolian islands
Le Aeolian o Lipari are the Sicilian archipelago perfectly visible from the Calabrian coast. The Trinacria islands have already been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000 as a biosphere reserve. The archipelago is made up of Lipari, Salina, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea; then there are Vulcano and Stromboli which have still active volcanoes.
The Aeolian Islands are all of volcanic origin; the oldest are Alicudi and Filicudi, which are about one million years old, the youngest are Vulcano and Stromboli, which date back to about one hundred thousand years ago. The archipelago represents ancient Eolia, the legendary abode of Aeolus the god of the winds; of Hephaestus the god of fire and of the mythical Cyclops of which Homer also speaks in the Odyssey.
The Riviera of sunsets
The Riviera dei Tramonti association, born in Lamezia Terme, promotes and supports the design idea, according to which in Calabria you can admire scenarios that are among the most evocative of the Mediterranean. The association aims to enhance and make known the naturalistic beauties and tourist potential of the Calabrian central Tyrrhenian coast. There Riviera of sunsets, and the sunset bay which goes from Nocera Terinese to Curinga and also includes the coastal hinterland with the characteristic villages that descend from the hills to the sea.
The Riviera dei Tramonti is an organization that is gaining consensus not only among the population but also at a cultural and social level with the adhesion of numerous bodies and institutions. The association aims to re-evaluate the immense landscape richness of this particular Calabrian coastal stretch. The sun that gently 'goes to sleep' on the sea is certainly a unique and breathtaking image but it is also one of the key elements to make the splendor of Calabria shine in the center of the Mediterranean, the cradle of ancient civilizations.
(Photo Facebook Riviera dei Tramonti / Aeolian Islands)
