This mountain range lies on a high plateau of 1 700km² whose forests of larch pine and beech trees alternate with prairies at an average altitude of 1 200m. The Parco Nazionale della Calabria visitors' centre, near Camigliatello, enables visitors to become better acquainted with the flora and fauna. A tour of the lakes of Cecita, Arvo and Ampollino, dotted with wooden houses reminiscent of Scandinavia is highly recommended. The tour ends at San Giovanni in Fiore, where Joachim of Fiore (c 1130-1202) founded a hermitage and a religious order.