San Marco Argentano

Consecrated in 1065, in the presence of Duke Robert Guiscard and his wife Sikelgaita, the abbey was favoured by popes and Norman lords, who endowed it with privileges: in 1092, it hosted Pope Urban II, promoter of the First Crusade; in 1222, it was taken over by Cistercian monks, who were responsible for the monumental elements still present inside (the current building is part of a private property), namely the single-lancet window, the scriptorium, the staircase leading to the upper floors, the decorated chapel and the ancient Gothic chapter house, considered one of the most refined examples of Cistercian architecture in Italy. In the Middle Ages, San Marco Argentano was also an outpost of the Knights Templar in Calabria, as evidenced by the discovery of the famous silver-gilt reliquary cross, kept at the Diocesan Museum of the Church of San Giovanni degli Amalfitani.

In the historic centre of San Marco Argentano (Crité district), you can admire the imposing Cathedral of San Nicola and the Norman Tower (or Drogone Tower, named after Robert Guiscard's half-brother), which went down in history for a grim event: it seems that Emperor Frederick II of Swabia had his rebellious son, Henry VII, imprisoned here for seven years. Another emblematic monument is the Fountain of Sikelgaita, with Boemondo's mother, the princess, depicted on the pediment.