Borgo Petelia
A Widespread Hotel in Calabria
Staying right in the ancient heart of the village will allow you to blend in with the locals and experience their habits, enjoy their stories and traditions.
The Borgo Petelia widespread hotel will welcome you through the silent streets of Strongoli, a Greek city of ancient origins that has proudly stood on the heights of Val di Neto valley for thousands of years. The city was then restored and transformed into a widespread hotel thanks to an accurate architectural recovery that preserved the charm of the local spirit. Borgo Petelia enhances the pleasure of living in places which were built over the centuries, restoring their immense cultural value. Borgo Petelia is a gamble on the future, it represents the desire to stop the passage of time, enhancing the past and what has been, to rediscover a fresh way of living and travelling.
Widespread Hotel In Calabria Overlooking The Ionian Sea
Seven houses right in the historical centre of Strongoli recovered thanks to a local territory development project developed by the University of Perugia. The result of the project is seven very traditional homes, which respect the customary house structure of the area.
The proper living spaces are on the first and second floor of the buildings, while the ground floor is set aside to host work or service areas: this is the traditional Calabrian “palazziata” house structure. By crossing the doorsill, you will be dazzled by the white of the walls, that frames and enhances the typical authentic furniture of the Arte Povera Calabrian tradition, furniture that was found in the same houses or some antique markets, and that are mixed with essential and original elements designed to complete and emphasize the ancient atmosphere.
A meticulously designed furniture project, as detailed as the technical system, designed and executed with particular attention to the needs of such a thoughtful restoration, as well energy-saving and ecological sensitivity: electrical cables and water pipes are off track, independent washbasins and showers, and we also have radiant panels, chimney heaters, and heat pumps.
“Maybe it shouldn’t be Italy to save our villages, maybe our villages should save Italy”
Franco Arminio
Strongoli: your dwell in magna grecia
Strongoli is the beautiful scenery which welcomes Borgo Petelia’s widespread hotel. The reason why we called it “Borgo Petelia” is to recall the ancient name of the village, whose origins seem to be even more ancient than those of Troy.
Legend has it it was Philoctetes, a noble prince of Thessaly, and an ally of the Achaeans in the war against Troy, the one to found both Strongoli (Petelia) and Crimissa.
The word is that Philoctetes participated in the Trojan war with seven ships and, after destroying the city, on his return trip he landed on the coasts of southern Italy in a place rich in vegetation and with a mild climate, presumably between the Neto river.
In the heart of Magna Grecia, a golden wheat hills landscape, spotted with green vineyards and expanses of olive trees, and the blue reflections of the Ionian Sea surround Strongoli: It is a feast for the eyes.
Crotone, the homeland of Pythagoras, is not far away, and behind it, in the hinterland, blue mountain chains announce the endless forests, streams and lakes of the Sila. In this sunny and fertile land, always cultivated since ancient times, oils, wines, meat and cheese gain its excellent quality: these will be the most precious souvenirs of your holiday in Calabria.
Explore
The inhabitants of Strongoli, a small village in the Calabrian hinterland, will make you instantly feel at home. We will welcome you as a guest, but just in a few seconds, you will become a local.
This is what we can promise you, an unforgettable holiday!
Start dreaming about your next holiday in a typical Calabrian house: click on the map and find your ideal home in Borgo Petelia.
The recovery project of Strongoli’s village
The rebirth of Strongoli’s historical centre is one of the major initiatives of the great regeneration project of the whole territory, carried out by the company Neaitos and the inhabitants of the village over ten years ago.
Former Urban Planning students of the Faculty of Engineering and their teachers founded the company Neaitos in September 2007. Today it’s a design company, a research centre of the University of Perugia. The project followed three years of studies on the Ionian coast of Calabria within the European research “Territorial Information System Calabria”. The mission of the company is to collaborate with the population and administrations to renew and strengthen the socio-economic pattern of the Strongolese area, enhancing its extraordinary environmental, and the natural, agricultural and historical qualities of the territory.
Everything started from the study of the surrounding territory and of the historical city: its stunning position on the hills, its ability to adapt to the climate and the shape of the land, the spontaneous sequence of streets and squares.
Then, the researchers carried out an analysis of the buildings, of their shape, structure and the way they were built, and of the solutions that were found through centuries of research and knowledge on construction materials and techniques.
They discovered the magic of an architecture without architects and the intelligence of simple and essential solutions that gave birth to Borgo Petelia.
Why Did We Give Birth To A Widespread Hotel In Calabria?
Widespread hotels are an original model of hospitality, a spark for the development of a village which can enhance public goods (natural resources, history, culture) and private homes. Giving life to a widespread hotel is a way to stop the decay of small villages – especially in southern Italy – and bring new confidence and entrepreneurial energy to lands that would otherwise risk being forgotten.
In Borgo Petelia, the renewed houses become part of the economic circuit of the village, bringing new life into it, and by selling them, they offer the means to face new restructurings. This process triggers a virtuous mechanism, able to enhance the existing heritage and to create additional reasons to stay. Every inhabitant who returns, and every guest who arrives, become part of this project in progress.
The History And Characteristics Of The Restoration Project
Seven restored houses, seven concrete signs of the rebirth of Strongoli in Calabria. The “Casa Centro” house was the first building to undergo a conservative restoration: since 2012 it is the headquarter of the company Neaitos, with a studio on the ground floor and the upper floors used as a guesthouse.
Then, two families (the Chiarottis and the Fazios) bought the closest houses and carried out their respective restorations. Shortly afterwards, Casa Castiglione was restored, only at a short distance from the first three.
From a typological point of view, the seven buildings constitute a typical Calabrian house, the “palazziata”, a single-family house with two or three floors.
The four restorations were followed by three more: other buildings belonging to owners who shared the goal of recovery of the Neaitos company and the desire to build a widespread hotel. These are Casa Perri, Casa Capozza and Casa Mannarino, which enrich the offer of the hotel and its authentic stay in Calabria.
Project’s Numbers
Years of studies and work
Renovated Houses
Beds
Mission
The mission of the project to recover the houses and the birth of Borgo Petelia in Strongoli is simple: Creating a new sense of a future for Strongoli and the magnificent territory that embraces it. Here, preserving what we have is not enough. We need to do more for the common good. We need to let the uniqueness of the village shine through, making its nuances re-emerge and maintaining its deep identity: this is what we tried to do with the architectural restorations, which has preserved the original simplicity and the function of the building.
Borgo Petelia is not only a project to preserve historical memory, it is the representation of the desire to rediscover an ancient way of living, in a more human, slower way.
Life In the historical villages is better: you feel good because they adapted over the centuries to the concrete needs of the community. The streets are made to be walked on foot; the distances are small, there are spaces protected from the sun, and seats to stop and talk on, the house doors and balconies are directly on the street, the buildings and the church are visible.
The villages are “organic” ensembles, as articulated and complex to resemble works of nature more than human products, possessing a quality that cannot be reproduced anyway today.
This is the profound meaning of the Borgo Petelia widespread hotel project, to gradually make it a concrete example of a possible future lifestyle.
These reasons are so deep that words cannot properly explain it, travellers must experience it, through an immersive experience with the local people.
The Future Of Strongoli Is In The People
The Borgo Petelia widespread hotel is the first step of a gradual restoration and gradual repopulation: the village was born as a community habitat, only a community can give it back its livelihood.
The regeneration of the old town centre will need to be a common goal, an immense and brisk building site. A collective work of which the population can be proud, a source of income and well-being for future generations.
This is what cultural work really is, this is worth preserving for the future: creating a new quality of living, a sense of identity and belonging, as the ancient city had created it in the past.