Pizzo is a lively town with a population of around 9000. It enjoys glorious sunshine, a magnificent sea and an enchanting location, perched on a promontory over the Tyrrhenian Sea.  According to tradition, it arose from the ruins of the ancient city of Napitia, founded by a colony of Focesi, who had fled from the massacre of Troy and who had settled there, attracted by these pleasant lands, where Magna Grecia was later to flourish. The new town took its name from Napitium, the leader of the expedition. Founded around 1500 years before Christ it gained a reputation for action, for the courage of its people, for the beauty of its lands, for its lush vegetation, and life in the town prospered happily on all fronts: it is said that it received the true faith from the preaching of the Prince of the Disciples in person, who travelled from the ancient town of Vibona on his journey from Jerusalem to Rome.

Again according to tradition, Ulysses, and later Cicerone stopped here. However, the Pirate raids, the repeated, brutal attacks by the Saracens eventually conquered the town, that, in around 300 D.C., was seized and reduced to a heap of ruins. The inhabitants fled, leaving only a few survivors in hiding in the eastern part of the destroyed town, where later, around 903, the new settlement evolved, christened Pizzo [lace], most probably due to its charming, picturesque location. Towards 1070, Roger the Norman built a magnificent building, that – in 1221 – hosted St Anthony of Padua, who was passing through on his return from a journey to Africa. In 1363, the Basilian monks built a huge Greek rite monastery, while the coral fisherman from Amalfi coast built the Chiesa delle Grazie, which later became the Chiesa del Carmelo.

The town gradually grew, and - to defend itself – built a wall with towers to the side, protected and fortified by a moat and drawbridge.

New churches and convents were constructed, a bustling trade in spices, silk, salted fish, oil and wine flourished, tuna fishing expanded, as did the art of coral work. Over the centuries, Pizzo has succumbed to Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese rule. In the late XV century, Ferdinand I of Aragon commissioned the building of the castle, in which Gioacchino Murat, the king of Naples was imprisoned and shot on 13^th October 1815, and then buried in the Mother Church of St George the Martyr.

Today Pizzo is a modern town, a holiday resort renowned for its beaches, charming rocky coves, for its clear sea, its blue skies, its picturesque Historic Centre, with its sun-baked houses, tiny lanes and its charming square from where you feel like you are on the bow of a ship, cascading like a waterfall on the tuff cliffs overlooking the sea. Surrounded by sweet-smelling orange groves that in Spring fill the air with the heady aroma of zagara, it is also famous for its production of "zibibbo", a very sweet white grape with an exceptional taste and flavour. The ancient art of tuna fishing has become a flourishing conserves industry, that has made Pizzo’s “tuna in olive oil” famous and appreciated worldwide.

The cuisine here is excellent, based on fresh local seafood and traditional Calabrian dishes. Last but not least Pizzo has a long history of exquisite homemade ice cream; dreamy flavours and an enormous selection, making the visitors’ and tourists’ stay particularly “sweet”.