The last great calcareous massif of the Mediterranean Apennine, which has become National Park in 1993 rises between Calabria and Lucania.

Spaces that are still untouched, witnesses of natural history: weather has 'written' in the Karst landscape centuries of seasons going by.

There are many mountain tops around 2000 metres that surround the central area of the Park, made up of the Pollino plains. Serra Dolcedorme (2267), Monte Pollino (2248), Serra delle Diavole (2127) and Serra Crispo (2053), all of calcareus-dolomitic nature, boast a rough and uneven beauty, characterised by the presence of the Loricate Pine, symbol of the Park.

Around the reliefs, the territory becomes gentler: wide high altitude prairies and vast woods of beeches, rich with crystalline water springs and waterfalls. Broad bedded rivers alternate with narrow canyons, on its bottom ice-cold and impetuous torrents flow. Of particular interest the gorges formed by the Raganello Torrent, with sheer drops of 800 m in the first part (near the Timpa in S.Lorenzo), and with close cliffs in the second (between S.Lorenzo e Civita).

The diversified nature of the territory ensures that many species live together inside it. Next to the Otter, of the Wolf, the Eagle, the Royal Owl and the Porcupine, the Orsomarso Roe-deer is probably the species that deserves closest attention: only about fifty animals remain of what is probably the only race remaining originated in the Apennine. Also important are the vegetable species, some rare (Paeonia mascula), some endemic (Pinus Leucodermis, Campanula pollinensis), some quite far from their original environment (Genziana verna).

The Park however is not just great solitary and wild spaces: sports people can go rafting, trekking on foot and by horse, mountain biking; and folklore lovers can take part in the various local cultural events. Among the most famous is the Festa della Madonna del Pollino, a festival which gathers together multitudes of followers in S.Severino, the first Friday in July. It is an ancient festival, during which you spend the night on the mountain, dancing the shepherds' "tarantella" to the sound of bagpipes and barrel organs. During the first Sunday of June the statue of the Madonna is brought shoulder high to the chapel dedicated to her on the Mount Pollino, and then brought back into the town the second Sunday in September.