Maiera, Calabria

Explore the Cities and Towns of Calabria

Overview

Maiera is situated in a precarious position overlooking a gorge 360 meters above the Mediterranean sea, overshadowed by its neighbor Grisolia. The towns seem to be magnificently separated almost in mid air and its an incredible site to behold, like nothing we have ever seen in all of Italy. It is quite the site to behold, though Maiera is not just a 'pretty face' so to speak. The town is home to the national Peperoncino Museum . Pepperocino is a delcious, hot, spicy red-pepper which the Calabrese put on everything in this region! It's said to be the 'Viagra of the south".

The museum showcases the history of the chili pepper (which were brought by the Spanish fleet lead by Christopher Columbus - back to Europe from South America in the 1600's). Because of Spanish conquest throughout Europe at that time and because of optimal growing conditions in Southern Italy, the Spanish brought the peppers to Calabria, where numerous varieties were cultivated and incorporated into local cullinary traditions.

The town musem has over 56 types of peppers grown throughout Italy on display as well as numerous works of art, recipes and alcoholic beverages to accompany samples.

In addition to hot peppers, Maierà boasts artistic flavour throughout its narrow streets. As in another Calabrian town, Diamante, numerous murals have been painted on the town's walls. Ceramic art is positioned in unusal corners creating unexpected bursts of colour throughout the town.

The main street, which you will find when you park your car, lead,s like all others in Maiera (3 streets in total), to Piazza Ducale. A small pedestrian tunnel steers guests into the stairwell leading up to the Peperoncino museum.

During the summer months at night time visitors can sample the numerous varieties of Peperoncino the museum has on display and can cool down during a tasting session with a cold beer, local wine, or water for that matter.

The museum also has cooking courses available to those interested, techniques and recipes which make Calabrese cooking so unique. The courses are offered to Italian speakers on a more or less continuous basis, and the owners are more than willing to offer some courses in English if there are enough takers.

Please visit the museum's website at: www.peperoncino.org

Gallery

Location

Private and Small Group Tours

Multi-Day Holidays Tours

Hotel

Villas

Apartment

Gallery

Our Featured Properties

Beach Front Enormous Penthouse Apartment in Southern Italy

Villa Vecchia

Quick Enquiry Form

Explore Towns and Cities in Calabria

Search Your Tour

Incredible Experiences in Italy for Exceptional Prices

Private Tour of Volterra and Her Incredible Landscapes including San Gimignano

Client Testimonials

I have traveled to Italy 2x with the IVS for my own pleasure trips and 2x for business with IVS. These guys really pay attention and make your trip go like clockwork. Italy is nuts, just saying! There are so many rules and restrictions now, so we did not want to drive ourselves. Having traveled with them many times and done business on several occasions, most definitely USE this company. They k ... [Read More]
- JoAnne Beaudoin, Retired Nurse
As a travel agent, but also a traveler to Italy, thee is no other company I would recommend than the Italy Vacation Specialists. Not only do they really care about what they are doing, they also really know Italy and try to educate many people about ways they can best see the country and not fall into tourist traps. I have been on 4 trips with the IVS team, firstly when they did my first 2 tri ... [Read More]
- Laura Chomiak, Travel Agent
I am a travel agent from Lebanon and have organized several group tours as well as individual tours of Italy with Italy Vacation Specialists. I highly recommend them as one of the very best tour operators in Italy to work with, given their professionalism and work ethic which I feel is second-to-none in the travel industry. All of the staff, the guides, the coaches and even the meals we enjoyed we ... [Read More]
- Nicole Haddad, Lebanese Travel Agent
I went to high school with the owner of the company who organized my honeymoon for myself and my now wife from Tokyo. We spent three short weeks seeing Piedmont and experiencing wine paradise there, then heading to Nice in France with our private driver and flying to Rome where honestly 4 days is NOT enough. They keep saying to spend more time and we could not agree more! You need to spend more ti ... [Read More]
- Robin and Kumi Bruun, Tokyo Japan
The trip was great we appreciate all the hard work you and your team invested to make our experience a once in a lifetime trip. We appreciate all the attention to the details in particular Giuseppe spending the time and the focus with us on the road and as we were exploring your great country. ... [Read More]
- Leon and Michele
In September of 2018 I brought a group of 12 from Venice to Sicily and organized all of my services with the Italy Vacation Specialists. Being a travel agent and in the business, I know how complicated organizing travel arrangements can be in Italy and the IVS team took a huge burden off of me! I would like to start of by saying "THANK YOU" both for the amazing job you did on our trip. There was n ... [Read More]
- Ann Brownell, KHM Travel Group
Dear Guiseppe and Jesse, We just returned from our most wonderful vacation to Italy and wanted to first thank you for putting together such a wonderful trip, and second to provide some feedback for the future. Hotels 1. Hotel Sovestro in San Gimignano was wonderful. The staff were very friendly and helpful and made the first portion of our journey very stress free. They made us feel like we wer ... [Read More]
- Ron and Deb Crosby
I traveled with JoAnn West through your services, guided by Giuseppe, in July of this year. What a wonderful experience; your service is really top notch! If I return to Italy for a tour, I will absolutely use your services again and recommend you to my friends! ... [Read More]
- Lucretia Brower
In August 2018, my family of four and myself travelled from Vancouver, BC to Rome Italy and spent 3 weeks touring Italy with IVS. This company had come highly recommended by many friends and associates of ours who had used them before and indeed to say they do an outstanding job is an understatement. You can tell while being in Italy that it is one complicated place to run tours in, just by the ... [Read More]
- Vijaya Sunil CPA, CGA
This company really knows their stuff and recommended our family to stay longer in each location. We didn't listen to them, but wished we had in every single place we went. They recommended Sestri Levante over the Cinque Terre which was our favourite destination on our entire trip. We visited Rome where we stayed in the outstanding Hotel Locorno where they know the owner there, like in every place ... [Read More]
- Sean & Veet Chapman, CGA