20 Nicastro - Le Castella - Family Search Day 3

Day 3 of the "Great Alcaro Family Search" begain in Nicastro by meeting up with the father of our AirB&B host, who offered to take us to yet another cemetery - one where he had "connections". The father spoke no English - and we, of course, spoke no Italian - save for having our trusty partner in crime, Anna Butterworth, with us. Off we trucked to the Nicastro Municipal Cemtery to explore records for Costanzas that dated back to the 1700s - before we threw in the towel. No luck. No body.

From there, we headed east for a little over an hour - again to the Ionian Sea, to the town of Le Castella. Here we found one of the most impressive castles of Calabria, the Aragonese castle of Le Castella. The castle dates back to the 14th century, and like so many other parts of Italy, changed hands several times. While it never housed nobility, it was used to house soldiers to protect the area. The castle, in part made of yellow limestone, rises majectically especially on a bright sunny day of rich, dark blue skies.