Mormanno

The settlement is probably of Lombard origin, as findings in the Costa district and in the area of the Lao River Valley Nature Reserve suggest. The urban fabric keeps the narrow, sloping layout typical of the Pollino mountain villages, with stairways and covered passages.

Altitude and position explain the climate: evenings are cool even in August, and anyone arriving after a day on the river finds temperatures quite different from the Tyrrhenian coast, less than an hour away.

The Mother Church of Santa Maria del Colle faces Piazza Umberto I and is a Neapolitan baroque building. Its façade is made entirely of tuff, designed by Pietro Scardino da Padula, with three portals surmounted by the coats of arms of the respective confraternities.

Nearby stands the monumental Votive Lighthouse dedicated to the Fallen of Calabria, one of the features that make the village skyline recognisable from a distance. These are the two points around which a short visit is organised.

The Mormanno Lentil and the Mormanno White Bean are both recognised as Slow Food Presidia. They are autumn table pulses, grown at altitude, and appear on the menus of the osterias in the historic centre especially in the later part of the season.

For anyone staying in the Lao valley this is a practical difference: Mormanno's cooking is of the mountains, not of the sea, and completes an itinerary that would otherwise be pressed against the coast.

The distance from the Laino Borgo base is short and covered in a few minutes. Many guests choose Mormanno for dinner after an afternoon descent, or for a half-day when the weather suggests postponing the river activity.

River Tribe's activities remain on the Lao in any case: you go to Mormanno for the village and for the table. The two work well together precisely because they are different.