IL PORCILE , once a pigsty , overlooks a small part of the village of ISCA SULLO IONIO ( CZ ) in CALABRIA , sea and far mountains. It is one of the three houses on our hill and is located on the south side . The murmur of the river below in the valley rises up. This house consists of two rooms : the kitchen and a small double bedroom . A little further on is the pool house with toilet and shower inside and an outside a shower and sink . There is plenty possibility to sit in the shade under the olive trees or the pergola .

Pig hutches were often used and build in the most beautiful places : in nature , not too far from the village and with a wonderful view . Most of these buildings are now long out of use , and reduced to a heap of stones .

From the book Blood Oranges (see books ) :

‘It’s high time to return to my Calabrese pighouse , my freedom made of stone. When I bought the land with panoramic views over the Ionian Sea twelve years ago , i didn’t even know that there was a pigsty. Sandwiched between two ancient olive trees , leaning against a steep hill with below the stream witch falls from eleven hundred meter high on the granite cliffs towards the sea.’

‘There I was suddenly in a place where I could not dream of or, as uman of the city, not even immagine that such places existed ! Ahead the pigsty was a space outside with a stone wall around it that reminded a medieval fortress. So here ate the beast chestnuts and acorns, potato peelings and vegetable remnants of the field a bit further. I took a deep breath – i remember it like yesterday – and compared the quality of my supermarket urban food with that of the pig. There was no comparison.’