Girifalco is located in the centre of the Isthmus of Catanzaro, the narrowest point of the Italian peninsula, at the foot of Mount Covello (848 m above sea level), a mountain subgroup of Mount Serralta in the northern Serra, at an altitude of 456 m above sea level. It has an area of 43.1 km² and is 32 km from the capital Catanzaro and 28 km from Lamezia Terme. In the municipality, the flow of Alessi is born.
As evidenced by some findings in the district of Caria, at the top of the Alessi stream, there were settlements prior to Magna Grecia. The necropolis discovered dates back to the Upper Neolithic and states that there were populations, presumably native, who had settled in the river valleys.
The city of Girifalco dates back to the destruction of two ancient villages, Toco and Caria, by the Saracens in 836. The villagers took refuge on the cliff called "Stone of the monks".
