The Codex Purpureus Rossanensis is a 6th-century Greek gospel manuscript written in silver and gold ink on purple-dyed parchment, with 15 full-page miniature paintings that are among the oldest surviving biblical illustrations. UNESCO inscribed it in the Memory of the World Register. It has been in Rossano's cathedral since at least the 11th century — how it got here (Constantinople? Syria? a fleeing monk?) is debated. The Museo Diocesano displays the codex in a climate-controlled case. Rossano was also a major center of Byzantine monasticism — Greek-rite churches and monks' caves survive in the hills. And: Rossano is Italy's liquorice capital — Glycyrrhiza glabra grows wild in the Calabrian hills, and Rossano's DOP liquirizia (Amarelli, the historic producer since 1731) is the finest in the world. Calabria →
Plan my Calabria trip →Museo Diocesano + Codex Purpureus: The manuscript — 188 folios of purple parchment with silver/gold Greek text and 15 miniature paintings (Christ before Pilate, Last Supper, Entry into Jerusalem, etc.). The oldest illustrated Greek gospel in existence. €5. Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Achiropita: Byzantine-Norman, with a 9th-century acheiropoieton (icon "not made by human hands") of the Madonna. Oratorio di San Marco: A 10th-century Byzantine chapel on the hill — a miniature cruciform church with traces of frescoes. Museo della Liquirizia Amarelli: The Amarelli family's liquorice museum — 300 years of production history, the Glycyrrhiza glabra plant, tasting. €5. Buy DOP liquirizia in every form: pure, candy, chocolate-covered, liqueur.
Getting there: Rossano station (Ionian coast line). By car: 1h from Cosenza, 2h from Catanzaro. Stay: €35-60/night. Eat: local Calabrian (€20-30 — lagane e ceci pasta, sardella — Calabrian anchovy spread). Combine with: Sila national park (40min uphill), Corigliano Calabro (10min — castle), Sibari archaeological park (20min — Greek ruins).