In 680 BC, Greek colonists from Locris in central Greece founded a city on Calabria's Ionian coast. Within decades, a lawgiver named Zaleucus gave Locri the first written law code in the Western world — predating Athens's Solon by nearly a century. The city produced Olympic champions, warred with neighboring Kroton (Crotone), allied with Syracuse, and eventually fell to Rome. Today Locri Epizefiri is one of the most important and least visited Magna Graecia sites: the sanctuary of Persephone (the most significant cult site to the goddess of the underworld in the Greek world), a Greco-Roman theater, city walls, and a museum housing pinakes — terracotta votive plaques depicting Persephone's abduction that are masterpieces of Greek folk art. Calabria guide →
Plan my Calabria trip →Sanctuary of Persephone (Marasà): The most sacred site in ancient Locri — a temple precinct dedicated to the queen of the underworld. Thousands of pinakes (small painted terracotta tablets depicting Persephone's abduction by Hades, her return, wedding scenes, and offerings) were found here, many now in the Reggio Calabria museum. The site itself is atmospheric — low foundations, altars, votive deposits. Greco-Roman theater: Cut into the hillside with a view toward the sea. Small but intact. Centocamere district: A residential area with the foundations of Greek houses arranged on a grid plan. City walls: Sections of the original 7km perimeter survive, built with massive stone blocks.
Museo Nazionale di Locri: On-site museum with pinakes, ceramics, bronze armor, and jewelry from the necropolis. The pinakes collection is unique — these mass-produced votive tablets give an intimate picture of Greek religious life. €5 combo (site + museum).
Address: Contrada Marasà, Locri (Ionian coast, Reggio Calabria province). Tickets: €5 combo. Hours: 9am-7pm (summer), 9am-5pm (winter). Closed Mondays. Getting there: Locri train station (regional from Reggio Calabria 1.5h), then 2km walk or taxi to the site. By car: 1.5h from Reggio. Duration: 1.5-2 hours. Combine with: Reggio Calabria (Riace Bronzes), Gerace (stunning hilltop town 10km inland — Calabria's most beautiful), Aspromonte (30min inland).