THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF LOCRI EPIZEFIRI 

The archaeological park of Locri Epizefiri is located at 4 kms to the south of the modern day town of Locri in the direction of Reggio Calabria and gravitates around the National Archaeological Museum which is accessible from the state road SS Jonica 106. From behind the museum building, there begins the primo percorso  (first pathway), which, flanking the stretch of fortifications which lined the ancient city towards the East, allows one to scan the extra urban area occupied by the areas sacred to Zeus the Thunder God and Demeter Tesmophoros which overlap into Contrada Parapezza and reach as far as the urban sanctuary of Marasā, with the remains of the Ionian Temple.
A secondo percorso (second pathway) also beginning behind the museum, skirts the walls parallel to the coastline, in correspondence with the ancient port basin and leads to the area sacred to Aphrodite beyond the walls at Marasā Sud and which centres on the “house of the lions”.  From here a terzo percorso (third pathway) towards the sea leads to the area of Centocamere which presents, on the hill side of the walls, a sector of the inhabited area, which had a residential and also a crafts work function; below, there is the extra urban area sacred to Aphrodite centred on the “stoā ad U”.
The dig at Centocamere can also be reached from the museum square by taking the SS Ionica state road for about 200 metres, until you come to a turnoff at a country road which may correspond to an ancient roadway which permitted communication between the hill area and the beach. Connected to this little road, in correspondence with the dig at Marasā Sud, there is a pathway which arrives from the museum and marks the beginning of the quarto percorso (fourth pathway) which enters the heart of the Roman city, where the nineteenth century Casino Macrė partially constructed on a monumental thermal building, is destined to become the new museum building. Uphill the little road enters the Dromo which also corresponds to an ancient road axis, which leads to other archaeological areas external to the park. To the East, one arrives at contrada Pirettina, which can also be reached from the Museum by taking the road which runs from the SS state road towards the hills. Here can be visited the theatre and the theca where the bronze tablets from the Sanctuary of Zeus Olympus were contained. The West one comes out onto the provincial road which leads to Portigliola, where the remains of the ancient fortifications can be found. Continuing towards the sea this road comes to the area of the remains of the large late ancient building of Quote S. Francesco. In the hills, one can visit the Sanctuary of Persephone at La Mannella and the towers of Castellace and Casa Marzano.