Mosorrofa: From a Greek-Rooted Hill Village Into the Aspromonte

Mosorrofa covers 19.1 km (11.9 mi) and gains 1140 m (3,740 ft) in total, rising from 296 m (971 ft) in Contrada Placa to 1409 m (4,622 ft) in Contrada Marvenirò, at an average grade of 5.8%.

The average hides some real work: the steepest 5 km (3.1 mi) average 8.2%, the steepest 2 km (1.2 mi) 10.3%, the steepest kilometer (0.6 mi) 11.5% and the steepest 500 m (0.3 mi) 12.9%. The steepest 91 m (100 yd) reaches 20.0%. Even the steepest 10 km (6.2 mi) averages 7.4%, so the sustained effort is substantial.

Because the hardest ramps are short, they are easy to power through with a compact setup and steady rhythm, but the length of the climb means the real challenge is distributing your effort across 19.1 km (11.9 mi) rather than attacking any single section.

Provisions:  Fill your bottles in Reggio Calabria or Mosorrofa before you start. With 19.1 km (11.9 mi) and 1140 m (3,740 ft) of climbing, carry two bottles in summer.

Gear:  A compact crankset with a 30-tooth or larger cog suits the 5.8% average and the short ramps near 12% to 20%. Pack a light layer for the descent, since the finish is at 1409 m (4,622 ft) and noticeably cooler than the coast, and consider wider tires for the patched pavement.

Mosorrofa has its own character, and it is worth a few minutes at the start. The parish church has 18th-century altars in the Sicilian style, and the small parish museum holds old books, reliquaries and a bronze statuette of St. Demetrius, the village's patron. His feast on October 26 follows Eastern Church custom, with a procession carrying a wooden statue made in 1850. Local sweets such as cuddhuraci and stomatico are cited as evidence of the village's Greek origins.

The older quarters of Mulè, Strapunti and Javureddhu keep their medieval layout, and streams around the village still hold the remains of water mills and a fulling mill, part of the area's industrial heritage. Mosorrofa was a village within the fortress of Sant'Agata in the Middle Ages and was hit hard by the 1908 earthquake.

The city of Reggio Calabria, with the National Archaeological Museum and the Bronzi di Riace, is covered on our Reggio Calabria page. To see the other climbs around the city and the Aspromonte, or to build a custom route from here, use our Routes in the Area tool.