Population: unknown
Official site: See Cassano
Wikipedia: n/a
Map: MapQuest

Map: Sibari

Gissing and Douglas, and every explorer to Calabria before them, searched for the fabled city of Sibari, or Sybaris.  They asked villagers, shepherds, and local historian, everyone they could, but they all left disappointed, convinced the city was just a myth.

The legendary Sybarites are said to have lived in such opulence that they were the envy of Magna Graecia.  (Even today the word “sybarite” defines a person who is a sensualists, someone who lives a life of opulence and indulgence). 

In 510 B.C., the people of Crotone further south of Sibari invaded the envied city, plundered its great wealth, and burned it to the ground.

The Sybarites fled to the mountain village that is now Corigliano Calabro, some historians say; those who didn’t escape were taken into slavery.  To vanquish Sibari forever, the Crotonese diverted the flow of the huge Crati River and submerged the city.  Eventually Sibari became a name in legend only.

Today at Sibari, the large excavation centre just outside of the resort, is well worth a visitors time.  The amphitheatre is said to be one of the oldest in Italy.

The museum is not what draws hundreds of thousands of tourists each sumemr however.  Rather, it is the large tourist complex, one of the most attractive on the Ionian coast, where each villa has its own front garden and a dock. 

Laghi di Sibari was built in 1966 by and English developer.  Like all new buildings on the the Ionian Sea, it is populated only in the summer, although British and German tourists trickle in during the off season to take advantage of cheaper rates and less congested beaches.