Castrovillari

Castrovillari is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. In 2010 its population was 22,586. History The name derives probably from the medieval Latin castrum villarum, meaning "fortress of the villas". The city was founded under the Crown of Aragon, which built the famous Castle. The town is situated in the middle of a huge arena shaped by big mountains, like Pollino (2,248 m) and Dolcedorme (2,273 m). This is the area of Pollino natural park, one of the biggest in Europe. Geography Castrovillari lies in north of Calabria, close to the borders with Basilicata and within the Pollino National Park. It counts 3 civil parishes (frazioni): Cammarata, Ciminito and Vigne. The town borders with the municipalities of Altomonte, Cassano allo Ionio, Cerchiara di Calabria, Chiaromonte (PZ), Civita, Frascineto, Morano Calabro, San Basile, San Lorenzo Bellizzi, San Lorenzo del Vallo, Saracena, Spezzano Albanese, Viggianello and Terranova di Pollino (PZ). Demographics Main sights Castello Aragonese Ponte della Catena (Bridge of the Chain), connecting the two halves of the city church of San Giuliano Franciscan protoconvent church of Madonna del Castello Transport The town was served, until 1978, by a railway station on the abandoned narrow gauge line Lagonegro-Lauria-Castrovillari-Spezzano Albanese, owned by the regional company Ferrovie della Calabria (FC). It is crossed by the A3 motorway (Naples-Salerno-Cosenza-Reggio Calabria) and served by two exits: "Castrovillari-Morano Calabro" and "Castrovillari-Frascineto". Sport Chess practice is quite common in Castrovillari, the local team playing in the second division of the Italian team competition. Regarding football, the most representative team is the U.S. Castrovillari Calcio, commonly known as Castrovillari. The team played for several seasons in the Serie C2, the fourth highest football league in Italy and the lowest with a professional status. Its home ground is the "Mimmo Rende Stadium". Notes and references External links (Italian) Castrovillari official website (Italian) Castrovillari.info (Italian) Castrovillari.biz (Italian) Castrovillari OnLine (Italian) The diary of Castrovillari