Detour #113: Strada Cristo Redentore di Maratea, Italy
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The road to Maratea on the Meditaterranean coast of Italy is a real rollercoaster ride, says Simon Heptinstall.
People visit the pretty little town of Maratea in southern Italy for its wild rocky shoreline sheltering 20 gorgeous little beaches. They wander cobbled alleys between crumbling terracotta roofed houses on steep wooded slopes, spotting the town’s 44 churches or gazing down on the tiny harbour from the ancient piazza.
Or they ignore all that, get in their car and tackle one of the most extraordinary stretches of road in the Mediterranean.
This short detour from Maratea was built in the 1950s. It climbs up a ridiculous 2,000ft pinnacle of rock overlooking the town via a daring sequence of 18 hairpin bends dangling in mid-air, supported on concrete pillars like a giant rollercoaster.
Some visitors, intimidated by the extraordinary spiral of road, take taxis to the top. Daring drivers or those with some sort of ego-problem, like me, take a deep breath and head straight up the tarmac helter-skelter regardless.
It involves an exhausting amount of steering-wheel twisting while ignoring terrifying drops on each of the corners. Don’t even think about the view until you’ve got the handbrake on in the car park at the top.
Towering over you is a huge white statue of Christ the Redeemer, arms outstretched, like an Italian version of Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro. The Cristo Redentore di Maratea was carved from Carrara marble by Florentine sculptor Bruno Innocent in 1965.
The figure is slightly smaller than Rio’s, and unlike his South American relative, stares inland, apparently blessing an area that has only recently recovered from a long history of poverty and neglect.
The road and the landmark statue were paid for by an eccentric wealthy Italian count hoping to attract 60s’ jetset visitors to the remote spot.
The view of the mountainous Basilicata coastline is breathtaking. But not as lung-seizing as looking back down the sheer face of rock you’re standing on and the concertina of road that you have to tackle to return to the world below.
