Cirò is Calabria’s most famous wine and it is made in the hills above the Ionian coast around Cirò, Cirò Marina, Melissa and Crucoli. Cirò Marina is located on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Cremissa, where there was an important temple dedicated to Dionysius. The ancient settlement was about halfway between Sybaris and Croton. 
        Sybaris, situated on the Ionian coast, was founded in 720 BC and destroyed in 510 BC by the people of Croton, its traditional enemies. During its existence, it was a key center of the wine trade and it seems that it was equipped with a veritable “vinoduct,” a pipeline made of terracotta tubes along which wine flowed from the hills inland to the docks of the city’s port. Transportation overland, which was slow and costly in ancient times, was thereby avoided. 
       The ancient name of Calabria, which was later extended to the whole of Italy, was Enotria, which means “land where the vine is cultivated high above the earth.” The tablets of Eraclea, which go back to the 4th century BC, provide a good idea of the value of Calabrian vineyards. According to the data inscribed, a field cultivated in vines was worth six times a plot of similar size planted in cereals. 
       Cirò is one of the oldest Italian wines and it is produced from the same grapes that were used in ancient times to prepare the famous Cremissa. That wine was offered to the gods by athletes who had won prizes at the Olympic Games. In observance of that ancient tradition, all the athletes who participated in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City were offered Cirò wine with their meals during the period of the competition. 

Map of the production area

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