# Catanzaro: 60 hectares of park and one huge arch

> The Parco della Biodiversita covers 60 hectares with open air sculpture, the Bisantis viaduct spans 231 meters, and the town's wealth came from silk.

URL: https://myitalia.it/towns/catanzaro/things-to-do
Last updated: 2026-09-03

Catanzaro gives you three things in one afternoon: 60 hectares of park with open air sculpture, a 1962 concrete arch spanning 231 meters over a valley, and a silk history that once ran to thousands of looms.

## Sixty hectares built on a disused site

The Parco della Biodiversita Mediterranea Michele Traversa covers 60 hectares on Via Cortese Vinicio, reclaimed from an abandoned area. Inside it are marked nature trails, the MUSMI military history museum, a wildlife rescue center and a Carabinieri environmental unit.

The comune presents the sculpture collection as the first international sculpture park in southern Italy, naming Antony Gormley and Michelangelo Pistoletto among the artists. That formula belongs to the comune, and this page attributes it rather than repeating it as an established record.

Opening hours and entry conditions are not stated on that page. No admission figure appears here for the same reason.

## The Bisantis viaduct: 231 meters of arch

The Bisantis viaduct carries a road deck of 468.45 meters, 110 meters above the bed of the Fiumarella, on a reinforced concrete arch spanning 231 meters. Riccardo Morandi designed it, construction ran from 1958 to 1962, and it was dedicated in 2001 to senator Fausto Bisantis.

It has a single carriageway with three lanes and a pedestrian walkway, which is the detail that matters for a visit: you can cross it on foot and look down.

Two figures circulate for the height, 110 meters and 112 meters, and two dates for the dedication. This page uses the ones from the source actually read, and does not repeat the claim that it is the tallest concrete arch bridge in the world, which we could not verify.

## Silk, and the looms that paid for the town

Catanzaro was the silk city of the Kingdom of Naples for centuries. The statutes of the silk guild were set in 1519 by a diploma of Charles V, after the tax privileges granted in 1397 by king Ladislaus of Durazzo, and the first mention of Catanzaro cloth goes back to 1205.

According to the comune, the looms went from around 500 in the sixteenth century to between 5,000 and 6,000 in the seventeenth, then down to about 800 in the eighteenth. Those seventeenth century figures are handed down rather than proved from archives, and they are quoted here as the comune states them.

The surviving piece you can visit is Palazzo Marincola on via Alessandro Turco, a mid nineteenth century silk works, now the MARCA art museum. Its hours and ticket are not verified here.

## A capital that is not the largest city

Catanzaro had 82,708 residents on January 1, 2026 on the ISTAT estimate, 39,494 men and 43,214 women. It is the capital of Calabria and the second comune in the region by population, behind Reggio di Calabria with 167,925.

That split explains a lot about the place. Regional offices, the university campus at Germaneto and the administrative traffic are here; the region's biggest population is down at the Strait, in another city.

More in [Catanzaro](/towns/catanzaro), [getting there](/towns/catanzaro/getting-there) and [Calabria](/regions/calabria).

## FAQ

### What is the Parco della Biodiversita Mediterranea?

A 60 hectare park on the site of a disused area, on Via Cortese Vinicio. The comune presents it as the first international sculpture park in southern Italy, with works by Antony Gormley and Michelangelo Pistoletto, and it also holds the MUSMI military museum and a wildlife rescue center.

### How big is the Bisantis viaduct?

The road deck runs 468.45 meters, stands 110 meters above the floor of the Fiumarella valley and the arch spans 231 meters. Riccardo Morandi designed it and it was built between 1958 and 1962, in reinforced concrete, with a single carriageway and a pedestrian walkway.

### Why is Catanzaro associated with silk?

It supplied the Kingdom of Naples for centuries. The guild statutes were set in 1519 by a diploma of Charles V, and according to the comune the number of looms went from around 500 in the sixteenth century to 5,000 or 6,000 in the seventeenth, falling to about 800 in the eighteenth.

### Is Catanzaro the biggest city in Calabria?

No. It is the regional capital with 82,708 residents on January 1, 2026, but only the second comune in the region: Reggio di Calabria has 167,925, more than twice as many. The seat of government and the largest population are in different cities here.

### Are the park opening hours published?

Not on the comune's tourism page, which describes the park without stating hours or entry conditions. Treat it as a daytime municipal park and check locally. The claim that it is the first international sculpture park in southern Italy is the comune's own wording, not an independently verified record.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Parco della Biodiversita Mediterranea Michele Traversa di Catanzaro si estende su 60 ettari e ospita quello che il Comune presenta come il primo parco internazionale di scultura del Sud Italia, con opere fra gli altri di Antony Gormley e Michelangelo Pistoletto, insieme al museo militare MUSMI e al Centro Recupero Animali Selvatici. | [Comune di Catanzaro - portale turistico Visit Catanzaro](https://visit.catanzaro.it/index.php/attraction/parco-della-biodiversit-mediterranea/) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| Il viadotto Bisantis di Catanzaro, il ponte ad arco in cemento armato progettato da Riccardo Morandi e costruito fra il 1958 e il 1962, ha una sede stradale lunga 468,45 metri, si alza 110 metri sul fondo della valle della Fiumarella e ha un arco con una luce di 231 metri. | [FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano](https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/ponte-bisantis) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Catanzaro fu per secoli la citta della seta del Regno di Napoli: i Capitoli dell'Arte della Seta furono fissati nel 1519 con diploma di Carlo V, i telai passarono da circa 500 nel Cinquecento a 5.000-6.000 nel Seicento per poi ridursi a circa 800 nel Settecento, e la sede del museo MARCA e Palazzo Marincola, un opificio serico di meta Ottocento. | [Comune di Catanzaro - portale turistico Visit Catanzaro](https://visit.catanzaro.it/index.php/2025/07/17/lantica-capitale-della-seta-catanzaro-tra-arte-colore-e-commerci/); [doc 2](https://visit.catanzaro.it/index.php/attraction/marca-museo-delle-arti-catanzaro-un-viaggio-tra-seta-e-capolavori/) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Catanzaro ha 82.708 residenti al 1 gennaio 2026 (stima ISTAT): e il capoluogo della Calabria ma solo il secondo comune della regione per popolazione, dietro Reggio di Calabria che ne ha 167.925. | [ISTAT - Demografia in cifre](https://demo.istat.it/app/?i=POS&l=it); [ISTAT - Popolazione residente per eta e sesso al 1 gennaio 2026, dataset comuni](https://demo.istat.it/data/posas/POSAS_2026_it_Comuni.zip) | high | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.catanzaro.v2.1600.jpg
Author: Nicholas Gemini. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scorcio_di_Catanzaro_02.jpg

## Other languages

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