The Wine and Rural Life Museum is located in Verbicaro, a village nestled in the nature of the Pollino Park, on the upper Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza in Calabria.
Set up in the premises of the old prison, within the grounds of today's City Hall, the Museum is divided into four main sections: history, wine, the economic value of the vineyard, from the palmento to the catuvo; the environment, grapes, stipa, and religious rituals; women and machines; the cholera revolt, where personal items found in the old isolation cell during the tragic cholera episode in the 19th and 20th centuries are displayed; the house and panacieddri.
The ancient winemaking tradition is carried on with love and dedication by the winemakers of Verbicaro, who produce Verbicaro wine, red, white, and rosé, the only wine from the Riviera dei Cedri to boast the DOC label. Known since Roman times along with the characteristic adduraca, the sweet grape from which the passito wine was obtained. Adduraca grapes are also used in the preparation of the characteristic panacieddri, baked bundles of sweet grapes and cedar peels wrapped in cedar leaves held together by a woven reed. This delicacy was even enjoyed by Gabriele D'Annunzio, who, in "La Leda Senza Cigno," writes: "I smile thinking of those bundles of compressed and dried leaves, coming from Calabria, that one day amazed and enchanted you [...]" and continues describing in detail the process to pierce the wrapper and reach its heart.
To taste the produced wine, people often gather in the typical catuvi, old cellars or warehouses, where evenings are spent in company, pairing the wine with local dishes.
It is also within the catuvi that preparations are made for one of the oldest traditions of the village: the Rite of the Battenti. The rite of the vattienti is one of the self-flagellation rituals that attracts numerous spectators from neighboring towns and from outside the region. It takes place on the night of Holy Thursday in a profound mystical atmosphere. Those who choose to become vattienti are driven by feelings of deep devotion and gratitude for a granted grace.
Other places to explore:
- Murals dedicated to Cinema - Verbicaro
- Church of Madonna della Neve - Verbicaro
- Romito Cave - Papasidero
