SERRA SAN BRUNO - CALABRIA - SOUTH ITALY

In a green valley on the Ionian side of the Serre Mountain range, 2,600 feet above sea level, lies Serra San Bruno, a lovely mountain village with medieval origins.

Founded at the end of the eleventh century around the Priory of St. Bruno of Cologne, it belonged to the monastic complex until 1756.

Set in a woodland park and surrounded by green pastures, Serra San Bruno is noted for the lovely churches of St. Biagio and Our Lady of Sorrows, gems of Baroque architecture, with fine stone doorways and wooden ornaments, the work of skilled local woodcarvers.

However, the significant cultural treasure of the village is The Priory, where the confraternity of Bruno still lives. The Priory library and museum are open to the public. In the center of the village are eighteenth-century buildings, with fine doorways and splendidly decorated stone balconies.

Serra San Bruno has always maintained a solid craft tradition, above all in the field of woodworking, masonry and wrought ironwork. The cookery and farm produce, especially the cheeses, mushrooms and sweets, are famous.
Today, Serra San Bruno is still a farming village, a trading center and a destination for pilgrims.