Attractions and Places To See around Cortale - Top 20

Church of S. Maria della Pietà, Squillace, 13th/14th centuries The church has an irregular rectangular floor plan, with sides measuring 7.05 m for the northern side, 7.32 m for the main entrance, 7.20 m for the secondary entrance, and 7.16 m for the final side, which, based on the traces of niches found in the two eastern bays, is thought to be the apse. The walls are 80 cm thick, constructed from large granite boulders, with limestone corners reminiscent of travertine. The elements comprising the main portal, the secondary portal, and the window jambs on the south façade are also made of squared and shaped limestone. The main façade features an entrance hall with a slightly ogival arch and moldings in the part surrounding the extrados. The side facade has an entrance with a pointed arch and four openings in the center of the left half of the facade, two of which are in the form of a monfora, a slit, and a strong splay. Text / Source: Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/ArchitecturalOrLandscapeHeritage/1800027735

Church of S. Maria della Pietà, Squillace Church of Santa Maria della Pietà, town, 13th - 14th century. Roberto Mastro (attributed) da Squillace The church is likely the work of a famous master builder, Roberto da Squillace, who worked in Calabria after 1296. It is a gem of 13th-century Gothic architecture. It is an example of the local artistic flourishing of the Swabian period; interesting for its art, which reveals the craftsmanship and dignity of the local workers. The church is of Franciscan construction, reminiscent of the features of conventual churches. It is probably only an isolated fragment of the original monastic context, a convent hall that originated locally with influences from Cistercian examples. Text / Source: INSTITUTE ABOUT US LIBRARY SERVICES AND FORMS https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/ArchitecturalOrLandscapeHeritage/1800027735

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Squillace The cathedral was built at the behest of Count Roger I in the eleventh century to eradicate Greco-Byzantine Christianity and reaffirm the Catholic rite in the region. In 1643, the bell tower was damaged by an earthquake, and later the church was destroyed by other events. It was rebuilt in 1737 by Bishop Michele Abbati and destroyed again by the earthquake of 1783. It was rebuilt by Bishop Nicola Notaris, who consecrated it on May 6, 1798. Text / Source: Wikipedia https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concattedrale_di_Santa_Maria_Assunta_(Squillace)

The Norman Castle of Squillace The Castle of Squillace dominates the village from the highest point of the hill. It was built by the Normans in the second half of the 11th century, at the end of their campaign to conquer Calabria against the Byzantines, who had occupied the region and southern Italy in general for over five centuries. During the Norman period, Squillace was the most important administrative, political, and religious stronghold on the Ionian coast. It was here that Ruggero d'Altavilla donated the lands where the Charterhouse of Serra San Bruno was built to San Bruno di Colonia. The Norman period was certainly the most important for Squillace, which experienced a period of great political-administrative, economic, and religious fervor. The early 13th century is fundamental to the history of Squillace: during this period, the settlement was first enfeoffed under a count and under the rule of a castellan. Under Frederick II, to whom we probably owe the construction of the polygonal tower on the eastern side of the enclosure, the Castrum Squillacii was held by a castellanus non habens terram and ten servients. The situation appears to have been the same in the Angevin era. From 1256 onwards, the castle was occupied by various families: the Lancia, the Monfort, the Del Balzo, and the Marzano, until 1485, when the castle returned to the direct control of Frederick of Aragon, the future King of Naples. In 1494, the castle passed through marriage to the Borgia family, whose marble coat of arms dominates the entrance portal. The Borgias, a very important noble family of Castilian origin, moved to Italy in the 12th century, where they settled in Florence, Perugia, Siena, Rome, and Naples. The marriage established the alliance between Pope Alexander VI and Pope John Paul II. Borgia and Alfonso II of Aragon: Goffredo Borgia, brother of the much more famous Lucrezia, just 13 years old, and Sancha of Aragon, the king's natural daughter, are married. The Borgia family ruled the castle until 1729, when, due to a lack of heirs, it again became part of the royal domain. Squillace was downgraded to Marchesato in 1755 and passed into the hands of the De Gregorio family, who held the castle until 1783, when a violent earthquake shook and destroyed the entire village. Text / Source: il Uoghi di Cassiodoro http://www.iluoghidicassiodoro.it/i-musei/il-castello-normanno-di-squillace/

Norman Castle of Squillace Norman Castle of Squillace The Norman Castle Squillace Castle dominates the panorama from the highest point of the medieval town, watching over the settlement and its surroundings. It was built by the Normans in the second half of the 11th century, at the end of their successful campaign of conquest in Calabria against the Byzantines, who had occupied southern Italy for over five centuries. The Norman period is certainly the most important for Squillace, which experienced a period of great political-administrative, economic, and religious fervor. The walls define the outline of the town, clearly visible from the serpentine roads leading from the beach to the upper part. From inside, there is a spectacular view of the town and the entire gulf. Despite the earthquake that struck Calabria and Squillace in 1783, the castle's structure, its stonework, and the embossed portal bearing the Borgia coat of arms are still clearly visible. The rooms of the small castle museum are very interesting: In the so-called "Warrior's Hall," among various other historical finds, the skeletons of two warriors from the 13th/14th century, discovered during an excavation campaign by the Ecole Française, are on display. Text / Source: turiscalabria.it http://www.turiscalabria.it/website/?lang=de&categoria=/wo/kusten/grune-flagge/&view_type=s&id=189&title=squillace.html

Girifalco lies in the center of the Isthmus of Catanzaro. Girifalco lies in the center of the Isthmus of Catanzaro, the narrowest point of the Italian peninsula, at the foot of Monte Covello (848 m above sea level), a subrange of Monte Serralta in the northern Serre region, at an altitude of 456 m above sea level. As some finds in the Caria district show, there were settlements in the upper reaches of the Alessi stream before Magna Graecia. In the early 17th century, Girifalco was a fief of the Caracciolo family and then belonged to the Ravaschieri family. After a few years, the fief returned to the Caracciolo family thanks to the marriage between Duchess Ravaschieri of Girifalco and a certain Annibale Caracciolo. From them was born Fabrizio Caracciolo, second Duke of Girifalco, the creator of a very prosperous period for the feud during his duchy, which lasted from 1634 to 1683 and consolidated the socioeconomic development of the city with the presence of the university and the feudal institution. Duke Caracciolo had the Reformed Convent built in 1635 and donated it to the Friars Minor, who erected a statue in his gratitude and placed it near the convent itself. Mayor Carlo Pacino commissioned important works such as the first municipal hall around the mid-1600s, the extension of the Church of San Rocco, and a few decades later, in 1663, the monumental Baroque fountain. In the 17th century, the inhabited center expanded more and more, and there were several churches (the ones of San Rocco and the matrix of the Pioppi district being the most important), two important monasteries, the Municipal House, the Ducal Palace (the Duke's residence), and even the city's coat of arms was built. At the end of the 18th century, another earthquake struck Calabria and the town of Girifalco, the one of March 28, 1783. The center was destroyed or severely damaged, as was the Pioppi district, including the mother church (already severely damaged in the 1638 earthquake and subsequently renovated), which would never be rebuilt. Its functions were transferred to the church of the Dominican convent, which thus became the new mother church. Text / Source: Comunicazione Girifalco https://unsic.it/comunicazione/girifalco/

The Village of Girifalco The village of Girifalco lies at the foot of Monte Covello, between the Gulf of Squillace and the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia, and in the heart of the Isthmus of Catanzaro, the narrowest point of the Italian peninsula. Girifalco owes its origins to the destruction of the two older villages of Toco and Caria by the Saracens in 836. The villagers sought refuge on the rock known as the "Pietra dei Monaci" ("Monk's Stone"). Text / Source: turiscalabria.it http://www.turiscalabria.it/website/?lang=de&categoria=/wo/paesi/&view_type=s&id=639&title=.html

Mandatory stop at the kiosk for a brasilena (Calabrian coffee drink produced here in Monte Covello)! If you are lucky you will find several locals ready to give you advice on the mountain routes.