Thinking about Galatro, the scent of musk immediately comes to mind, the scent that can be found in the alleys that climb up the promontory on which the green stands out, which spreads all around. The noise of the two streams that cross it, also is heard. Perhaps its name comes from the Greek and means 'ravine', coming from the shape of the mountains, or pssobly 'deep river'.
The whole of Calabria has a very long history and the remains of tombs from the 6th century BC were found in Galatro. and perhaps the traces of an ancient temple was found during the renovation of the spa.
The history of the current village started around the tenth century when the population sought refuge in the mountains to escape the attacks by the Saracens from the sea. At that time the most widespread jobs were the tanning of skins using the waters of the Metramo river.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Calabria became part of the Byzantium Empire which brought the Greek language and Orthodox worship.
In 1075 some Basilian monks arrived who founded the monastery of Saint Elias bringing from Byzantium the cult of some orthodox saints as well as that of San Nicola, since then protector of Galatro. According to local tradition, the body of Saint Elias, a saint born in Sicily who then founded some monasteries in Calabria after being driven out by the Arab arrival on the island, was kept in this monastery.
Important religious devotees and thinkers have stayed in this convent for a long time. These have included Barlaam da Seminara who in the mid-fourteenth century tried to bring together the Catholic and the Orthodox churches.
After being sent to Naples, Avignon and Paris on behalf of the Emperor of Byzantium, he joined the Catholic church and was a Latin and Greek teacher to Petrarch and Boccaccio. And it is precisely thanks to the intercession of Francesco Petrarca that Pope Clement VI appointed him Bishop of Gerace.
They were the monks who discovered and valued the healing power of the waters that gush at a temperature between 36 and 40 degrees in a gorge below Mount Livia. These waters have always been used to combat rheumatism and skin diseases.
The whole area has seen the succession of several conquerors starting from the Normans of Ruggero d’Altavilla who were supported by the Catholic church to spread the Latin rite and suppress the Orthodox one.
For many years the fiefdom of Galatro was largely administered by the Bishop of Miletus, as Ecclesiastical Baron of Galatro. In fact, thanks to Count Ruggero with the document 'Sigillum Aurem', since 1086, the diocese of Miletus, had received many territories as a gift and enjoyed a particular prestige so much that it could be said to be a fiefdom of the church.
Throughout history, nature has not been benign and this part of Calabria has suffered several earthquakes that have devastated it. For example, the current church of San Nicola was built after the destruction of a mother church which was located near the Metramo river and was subject to floods. The construction was financed by Senora Deodato and inside there is a beautiful altar with 16th century statues saved from the previous church.
In 1783 the town was severely damaged by the terrible earthquake that hit southern Calabria.
But religious life has always been very lively and in 1856 a second church dedicated to Maria Santissima della Montagna was built and a second patronal feast was established on September 8, a day traditionally dedicated to the Virgin Mary all over the world.
In 1860, a first municipal resolution authorized the construction of a spa which, however, was only started at the end of the 19th century with the arrangement of bathing pools in which part of the river's water passed.
The plant was then damaged by a 1972 flood and reopened few years later.
Around 1980 a dam was built on the Metramo river which created a splendid lake immersed in a forest and unspoiled nature where you can walk and enjoy the beauty of creation.
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