In the short coastal strip citrus fruits, vine and olives are grown, while at highe elevations the vegetation is composed mostly by oak and holm oak under the 1,000 m, and by pine, Sicilian fir and beech over it. Olive trees grow in abundance. Also, the rare bergamot, the lemony-yellow fruit used in perfumes and flavoring for Earl Grey tea, only grows in the southern Aspromonte.
Points of attraction include the Gambarie ski resort (1,311 m) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, in the comune of San Luca. Part of the population has retained Greek culture and language (the so-called Griko language).
Giuseppe Garibaldi, landing here with 3,000 volunteers in his march towards Rome, was defeated and captured on August 29 1862 in the Battle of Aspromonte.
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Last updated on Sunday July 20, 2008 at 17:29:18 PDT (GMT -0700)
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