The legend of Pietra Kappa: I have not written a lot lately but there is a reason. I was on vacation in Calabria where I spent some time with the son of one of my cousins, his name is Davide. He is a young boy, about 15/16 years old but he has already written an article which is on the blog about one of the stories my grandfather wrote.
While I was there, he asked me to go hiking to see the “Pietra Kappa” located between San Luca and Careri. On the way, he told me the story written by my grandfather and he was so enthusiastic that I decided to tell you the story too.
Pietra Kappa is one of the tales in “Racconti d’Aspromonte” narrating legends about Calabria.
Davide started telling the story of a long journey made by Jesus, Saint Peter, and two apostles Thomas and Mathew from Bovalino to Careri. On their way they stopped in Bovalino a small town with a bad reputation but with a spectacular landscape. They continued their trip and finally arrived in Careri, also called Careo by the locals. After Jesus performed a miracle changing some stones into hot, crispy bread, they stopped there and ate.
But the most important thing Davide told me was about the legend. What legend? The one about Pietra Kappa. It seems that it is possible to hear screaming inside the Pietra Kappa. The howling inside the Pietra is supposed to be sergeant Malko, who was condemned to eternal penitence by Saint Peter. It is also believed that sergeant Malko really existed. He is supposed to be the one who slapped Jesus during his interrogation.
And Davide went on to say how fascinated he was by this story, how original it was and how impressed he was by an author capable of writing about his homeland using a fantastic legend.
But what enchanted him the most was the natural beauty of the area and the breath-taking view of the Calabrian landscape.
