Aieta

The historical centre of Aieta is characterised by the light colour of the façades and the red of the roofs, as well as the magnificent stone portals worked by local stonemasons between the 18th and 19th centuries. The village of Aieta is gathered around the imposing Martirano-Spinelli Palace, a rare example of a Renaissance building in Calabria. Now a ‘’National Monument‘’, the palace was built in the 16th century by the Marquises Cosentino, lords of Aieta, and later sold to the Spinelli family. In the centre of the façade is an open gallery with columns and arches made of local stone; inside, the reception hall and the living, music and game rooms, the kitchens, the weapons room and the guard room are worth visiting). The religious buildings include the Mother Church of Santa Maria della Visitazione (16th century), rich in precious works of art of the European school, with a remarkable Bossi-Prezioso pipe organ (1673) and the Church of San Francesco.

The village of Aieta boasts a long textile tradition, which today can be known and admired at the House of Ancient Crafts, where it is still possible to see the weavers at work and to purchase valuable one-of-a-kind pieces of traditional trousseau and clothing.