VIRTUAL ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, British and European travellers ventured to the southernmost region of Calabria, Italy, in search of distinctive landscapes to depict in their artworks. Renowned for its unique five-fingered mountain formation, Pentedatillo, a former Greek-speaking settlement and Byzantine outpost situated at the tip of Italy’s “toe,” became a significant destination within the Aspromonte region. In 1847 English traveller Edward Lear observed Pentedatillo’s urban landscape describing it as a “gigantic hand against the sky” and remarking its unusual human dwellings. The site is now the venue for its international film festival. Yet the transformation of the Greek-Calabrian village into a living laboratory, prompted by increased cultural tourism, arises the question about whether preservation efforts have affected its geomorphology or not. Uncovering Pentedatillo’s changing landscape from the 1770s onward, this paper reveals the significance of Calabria’s Byzantine constructions, specifically the structures that house Saint Gaetano Catanoso’s accoutrements, reinforcing Calabria’s enduring mountainous landmark. In examining the mountain’s geomorphological artistry, it focuses on Swiss painter Ernst Frick and Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, both of whom visited the area during the 1920s and 30s. Next, it exposes the “hand of God” and occult associations with Pentedatillo and considers Austrian architect Bernard Rudofsky’s photograph of Pentedatillo, featured in Prodigious Builders (1977), highlighting its vernacular architectural approach, and affecting modern and contemporary architecture. Pentedatillo continues to attract cultural tourists who visit this place by following established walking tours, reflecting broader trends in urban expansion and modernisation driven by migration to surrounding areas.