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17-665: The river's source is in La Sila and it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea , at the Gulf of Saint Euphemia , after a run of 48 kilometres (30 mi). The name originates from the Latin Sabutus , and it may also correspond to the Greek Ocinaros ("that flows quickly"), on which there was located the ancient town of Temesa . It is also the name of a small village near the river The river

34-611: A ... Sancti Marci Urbe. Robert the Norman, duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his wife Sichelgaita, founded the monastery of Matina in 1066, then Benedictine, now Cistercian, a daughter of the monks of Casamari in Calabria, two miles removed from ... San Marco. The monastery was under the direct ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Papacy. As such, it appears in the earliest redaction of the Liber censuum of

51-572: Is contradicted by documents in the archive of the Aldobrandini family . In October 1221, upon request of the abbot of Sambucina and with the permission of Pope Honorius III and the bishops Andrew of San Marco Argentano and Luke of Cosenza , Matina finally became a Cistercian abbey dependent on Sambucina. In February 1222, the act received the consent of the Emperor Frederick II , and in June 1222

68-547: Is crossed by a Roman bridge along the Roman Via Popilia , the Ponte sul Savuto, or Hannibal's bridge. The Savuto valley is home to many towns (It: comuni including: Aprigliano , Parenti , Rogliano , Santo Stefano di Rogliano , Marzi , Carpanzano , Malito , Scigliano , Pedivigliano , Altilia , Grimaldi , Aiello Calabro , Martirano , San Mango d'Aquino , Cleto , and Nocera Terinese known collectively as "towns of

85-657: Is divided (from north to south) into the sub-ranges Sila Greca , Sila Grande and Sila Piccola ("Greek", "Greater" and "Lesser Sila", respectively). The highest peaks are the Botte Donato (1,928 m), in the Sila Grande, and Monte Gariglione (1,764 m) in the Sila Piccola. The Sila Greca is the northernmost section and is now mostly cultivated rather than thick woods. Around this area, Albanian villages such as San Demetrio Corone sprang up when Albanians were fleeing

102-847: The Bruttii , an ancient tribe of shepherds and farmers. Rome began to extend its sphere of influence over Calabria, Sila included, to the extent that any outside rule affected these mountains. Later it was nominally occupied in turn by the Ostrogoths , the Byzantines and, from the 11th century, the Italo-Normans . The last favoured the creation of several monasteries, such as Santa Maria della Matina of San Marco Argentano , Sambucina at Luzzi and Florense Abbey at San Giovanni in Fiore , founded by Joachim of Fiore . In 1448-1535 immigrants from Albania settled

119-684: The Cosenza - Camigliatello Silano - San Giovanni in Fiore narrow-gauge line (now operating only for tourist special excursions), operated by the Ferrovie Calabro Lucane , and the Paola - Cosenza rack railway , operated by Ferrovie dello Stato . In 1915, the British traveller Norman Douglas , author of the travelogue "Old Calabria", wrote about the Sila as "... a venerable granite plateau, which stood here when

136-645: The Savuto" (It: Paesi del Savuto ). This article related to a river in Italy is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . La Sila La Sila , also simply Sila , is the name of the mountainous plateau and historic region located in Calabria , southern Italy. The Sila National Park is known to have the purest air in Europe. The Sila occupies part of the provinces of Cosenza , Crotone and Catanzaro , and

153-509: The area towards the Ionian Sea , creating the communities of Sila Greca ("Greek Sila"). After the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy (late 19th century), Sila remained a base of brigandage . New routes were opened to reduce the isolation of the mountain centres, which was dramatic especially in winter: these included the Paola - Cosenza - Crotone road, and specialised mountain railways such as

170-401: The commandery remained until the abolition of feudalism in 1809, during the reign of Joachim Murat , when the land became state property. Subsequently the buildings and grounds were granted to General Luigi Valentoni, who transformed it into a farm. The property remained in his family until the end of the twentieth century. In the seventeenth century, most of the abbey buildings, which dated to

187-495: The early twelfth century. On 18 November 1092, Pope Urban II visited the monastery. In 1167, the Frenchman William of Blois became abbot, but resigned his position by 1169. By this time, the monastery was in decline. Joachim of Fiore refused the request of King Tancred of Sicily to move his new religious foundation at Fiore to Matina. There has long been speculation that Matina became Cistercian in 1179 or 1180. This

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204-574: The first abbot, Abelard. The monastery received rich gifts from its Norman patrons, but also a large piece land from the diocese of Malvito , for which the bishop was compensated in gold. In 1660, Gregorio de Laude, abbot of Santa Maria del Sagittario , who had seen the now lost parchments of the foundation himself, described it thus: Monasterium Matinae a Robert Nortmando Apuliae et Calabriae Duce, uxoreque sua Sirlegatta anno 1066 [ sic ] fundatum, tunc Nigrorum, modo Cisterciensium Monachorum Casamaris filiationis situm in Calabria, duobus dissitum milliariis

221-557: The oldest portion of the Italian peninsula; their culminating point is the Botte Donato (6330 ft), and they are not free of snow until the late spring. The name goes back to the Greek period, and then probably belonged to a larger extension of territory than at present. In ancient times these mountains supplied timber to the Greeks for shipbuilding. The first known settlers of the Sila plateau were

238-467: The proud Apennines were still dozing on the oozy bed of the ocean...". The 1949 film The Wolf of the Sila was set in the area, and much of it was shot on location. Today several centres, such as Camigliatello and Palumbo Sila, are becoming tourist resorts. Santa Maria della Matina Santa Maria della Matina was a monastery near San Marco Argentano in Calabria . It was originally Benedictine , but later became Cistercian . In 1065, at

255-406: The urging of Pope Nicholas II , a monastery was founded at Matina by Robert Guiscard , duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his wife, Sichelgaita . On 31 March, by order of Nicholas' successor, Alexander II , the monastery was dedicated in a ceremony officiated by Archbishop Arnulf of Cosenza , with the bishops Odo of Rapolla and Lawrence of Malvito in attendance, before Robert and Sichelgaita and

272-523: The wrath of Muslim invaders . The Sila houses the eponymous national park, the Parco Nazionale della Sila , formerly called National Park of Calabria; it was created in 2002. The pine tree Pinus nigra ssp. laricio , commonly called Corsican pine is native to the Sila. Virgil , Tucidides , Strabo , Cassiodorus report the vast expanses of pines in the Sila. Geologically these mountains, which consist of granite , gneiss and mica schist , are

289-483: Was confirmed by the pope. In 1235, the abbot of Casamari requested permission from the general chapter to send the monks to Sambucina for three months every summer on account of the climate. From 1410, the monastery was usually given in commendam , causing further decline. In 1633, it joined the Cistercian congregation of Calabria and Basilicata. In 1652, the monastery was finally suppressed by Pope Innocent X , but

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