Did you know there’s a place in Calabria known as the “Provence of Italy”?
It’s the Lavender Park of Campotenese, a hamlet of Morano Calabro, one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” in the province of Cosenza.
Right at the foot of the Pollino National Park lies a native lavender cultivation that rivals the French Provence. A purple expanse as far as the eye can see, waiting to be photographed, smelled, picked, and discovered in all its properties.
The Lavender Bloom in Calabria
Lavender cultivation in Calabria is an activity best explored through nature and experiential tourism, which introduces us to niche businesses that best express the new trend of slow living.
One of these is the Lavender Park of Campotenese, a town in the Pollino National Park near Cosenza, a hamlet of the medieval village of Morano Calabro.
The lavender blooming period, the best time for a super Instagrammable visit to the park, is between late June and late August.
During these months, lavender turns the entire hillside around Morano purple, wafting its unmistakable scent into the air.
What’s so special about Campotenese lavender and what distinguishes it from Provençal lavender? It’s a native species that grows on the slopes of the Pollino Massif, Lavanda Loricata (whose name is also linked to the native species of the Bosnian pine, the symbol of the Pollino Park), hence the charming name “Loricanda.”
The idea of cultivating Loricanda stems from the farsighted vision of the Roccos, who founded the Lavender Park in 2007 with the specific aim of studying and selecting the local wild lavender variety that has always grown in the rocky slopes of Pollino, and cultivating it under certified organic conditions on abandoned plots of land.
Loricanda is a naturally hardy plant that requires no chemical treatments, making it suitable for the myriad uses that the Organic Farm makes of it.
What can you expect during the guided tour of the Lavender Park? An encounter with approximately 60 different varieties of the plant within a unique single-species botanical garden, where each variety is explained by experts so that even amateur enthusiasts can distinguish and appreciate it.
Finally, after having created a real photo book in purple, all that remains is to purchase lavender-based products in the shop: soaps, candles, bath salts and laundry scented sachets.
