Discovering Historic Houses in Calabria

The first stage of the itinerary to discover Calabria's Historical Houses starts from the province of Cosenza and one of its arbëreshë (Italo-Albanian) towns, Lungro.

This is where Palazzo Bavasso is located, a place that combines history and legend, East and West, just like the territory that hosts it.

One of the most imposing buildings in the old town, the palace faces the Cathedral of San Nicola Di Mira and its history dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when the brothers Vincenzo and Costantino Bavasso, wealthy businessmen, expanded their trade as far as the Americas and commissioned their new home from the best architects of the Neapolitan school.

Thus was born this splendid neoclassical-style mansion, according to the fashion of the time and the taste of donna Olga Dramis (Vincenzo's wife). Visiting Palazzo Bavasso, among the Historical Houses of Calabria, is a real journey back in time: polychrome floors and original Art Nouveau furnishings; on the ground floor, olive oil production machinery.

Palazzo Bavasso is now home to the cultural association of the same name, with the aim of disseminating Arbëreshë traditions and culture through events held in its sumptuous halls.

Our journey of discovery of the Historical Houses of Calabria takes us to Sangineto, also in the province of Cosenza.

At the top of the historic centre stands the imposing Prince's Castle, a quadrangular building dating between the 14th and 16th centuries, probably built by the Counts of Sangineto and later passed on to the Sanseverino family. 

Enclosed by massive boundary walls and four cylindrical crenellated towers, accessed via a drawbridge (now replaced by a wooden bridge), the castle stands on a natural base accessible by a monumental archway; on the opposite side is a 16th-century Renaissance-style open gallery.

In the inner courtyard there is a two-flight staircase leading to the upper floors, which can be visited: the Courtyard of Arms welcomes us, with a small guard building, a second courtyard with an olive tree in the centre and a series of service rooms up to the more intimate and representative ones, such as the Gentile Chapel and the Ceremonial Hall. Part of the structure now houses a famous nightclub of the Cosenza nightlife.

The province of Cosenza reserves us another jewel among the Historical Houses of Calabria: Villa Contessa Caracciolo, in Lattarico.

After visiting the town's historic centre, we move on to the hamlet of Contessa, where Villa Caracciolo stands. A structure of undoubted beauty and historical relevance, today an estate of excellence in Calabrian agribusiness.

Ferdinando Caracciolo bequeathed the villa to his son, Luciano, who moved here in the 19th century to leave it, in turn, to his heirs. The latter made it a country residence according to the canons of the so-called "villas of delight".

The current owners have preserved almost intact the original architecture of the house (18th century) and its extraordinary park, which extends over an area of more than 4 hectares and includes the old sharecroppers' dwellings and a series of service areas (stables, stone mill, ovens and various storerooms).

Among the Historical Houses of Calabria is what is known as MUBI - Stillo Ferrara Library Museum, located in the palace of the same name in the historical centre of Paola, in the province of Cosenza.

Palazzo Stillo Ferrara, now a historical-documentary and sacred art museum, is a space of territorial reconstruction that recounts the town and the most important events of the community and the diocese.

The heritage preserved inside is closely linked to the figure of the owner, Don Salvatore Stillo, who was closely associated with the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano.

The building, which is frequented by scholars, schools and simple visitors, retains the old-world charm of the original rooms of the time (19th century): from the main façade to the garden, passing through the upper floors and some pieces of furniture.

We descend along the Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza and make a stop in Amantea, where no less than two Historical Houses of Calabria are located.

The first is the former Le Clarisse convent, now home to cultural (Accademia degli Arrischiati and Museo della Copia d'Autore) and commercial (restaurant) activities; the second is Palazzo Carratelli (charming b&b). Both dominate the panorama of the city by the sea. 

The Palazzo delle Clarisse was built at the beginning of the 17th century as the seat of the convent and remained so until 1806, when the French confiscated it together with the other ecclesiastical properties and later sold it to Marquis De Luca, who made it his noble residence.

The second of Calabria's Historical Houses in Amantea is the splendid Palazzo Carratelli.

The palace was built in the second half of the 15th century, then renovated and enlarged on three levels following the earthquake of 1638. On the ground floor, at the centre of the façade, is the majestic entrance door leading to the inner courtyard, around which is an open staircase with a simple ramp. Pope Benedict XIII and Alfonso II of Aragon passed through this palace. Severely damaged by the 1905 earthquake, it is now owned by the Martino family, who completed its restoration.

An extraordinary late 18th-century building used as a hunting lodge, Villa Cefaly Pandolphi in Curinga, Catanzaro province, is one of the most elegant and best-preserved Historical Houses in Calabria.

Immersed in a grapefruit plantation, Villa Cefaly belongs to the family of the same name that has given illustrious birth to painters (Andrea Cefaly), prelates and statesmen, such as Antonio Cefaly (Vice President of the Senate from 1890 to 1920, whose cemetery epigraph was written by Benedetto Croce).

Visiting the residence (booking required), one breathes in the charm of the lives that have passed through it and the taste of the current owners, who keep the furnishings, traditions and heirlooms intact.

The antique polychrome hexagonal tiled floors, the frescoed wooden ceilings, the picture gallery and every detail that still tells of a proud and ancient history, intertwined several times with the national one, are splendid. 

Palazzo D'Agostino in Serrata, in the province of Reggio Calabria, is the seventh stop on our itinerary to discover Calabria's Historical Houses.

An unprecedented and little-known structure, it is one of the eighteenth-century villas remodelled in Art Nouveau and eclectic style in the early twentieth century, as demonstrated by the differences between the ground floor (1783) and the reception area, readapted to the taste of later periods.

The smooth ashlar façade retains an element of originality in the large granite portal on volutes, with a wrought-iron balcony supported by three apotropaic masks inspired by Sicilian Baroque. The interior still retains the furnishings and rooms of the period, including the service rooms and the barrel-vaulted cellars.

The palace is the venue for summer events and concerted openings.

We remain in the province of Reggio Calabria, moving on to Polistena, whose historic centre sees the blossoming of several aristocratic palaces inextricably linked to local history.

These include Palazzo Valensise (included among the Historical Houses of Calabria, although it cannot be visited) and Palazzo Grillo, used by the current owners as a charming b&b and partially open to visitors.

The first one, owned by the historic family of the same name, stands on the remains of the old Dominican convent (collapsed in the 1783 earthquake) and is the work of architect Scaramuzzini. Inside, the private family chapel houses a 19th-century wooden sculpture by Giovanni and Francesco Morani.

The second, stands in the shadow of the bell tower of Polistena Cathedral. Unique for its L-shaped plan, it retains a courtyard-like architectural structure in which the monumental staircase in fine local stone and a colonnaded portico typical of 17th-century Neapolitan architecture are set (rooms can be visited).

Moving a little further afield, still in the province of Reggio Calabria, the itinerary on the trail of Calabria's Historical Houses takes us to Taurianova for a "double shot".

The "Capital of the Book 2024", as well as historical "City of the Infiorata", guards two pearls of historical Calabrian architecture: Palazzo Contestabile (open to the public for events and exhibitions) and Villa Zerbi (location for private events, partially open to visitors).

Palazzo Contestabile, in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, still owned by the historic family, was built in the late 18th century by architect Carlo Vanvitelli (father of the famous Luigi, designer of the Royal Palace of Caserta). The current building has three communicating bodies on three levels, accessed by a granite-paved hallway and an internal courtyard. The main staircase leads to the mezzanine floor and the main floor. Abandoned in the 1950s, the building was restored by architect Luigi Giuseppe Massara.

Also dating from the late 18th century, Villa Zerbi (now an elegant location for weddings and private events) is a typical expression of Sicilian Baroque, the work of architect Filippo Frangipane. Examples are the refined grey granite portal and the wrought-iron balcony volutes with stone masks. The 2002 restoration made it possible to include the villa among Calabria's Historical Houses, along with the recovery of its precious garden, reconstructed on the basis of ancient Calabrian gardens, with short thematic paths and a harmonious concert of colours and fragrances. 

To visit Villa Caristo in Stignano, along the fragrant Costa dei Gelsomini (the Ionian coast in the province of Reggio Calabria), is to enter a parallel dimension.

The most sumptuous and Baroque of Calabria's Historical Houses, now open for guided tours and used as a venue for weddings and major events (as well as a charming residence, photographic and film set), has nothing to envy from estates such as Donnafugata, which have made Sicilian Baroque history.

Included in the "top ten" of the classification "The most beautiful park in Italy", Villa Caristo appears among the 10 unmissable Italian pearls for art and history lovers. In 1984, the Italian Post Office dedicated a stamp from the philatelic series "The Villas of Italy" to the building.

Welcoming visitors at the foot of the scenic pincer staircase is the statue of Tancredi and Clorinda, a reference to one of the most famous episodes in Torquato Tasso's poem, La Gerusalemme Liberata. The gardens are one of the main attractions: a series of panoramic terraces overlooking the hills and the Ionian Sea, embellished with fountains and sculptures.

After a long period of decline, the Caristo family (a lineage of professionals, collectors and patrons) gave new lustre to the mansion and the park, undertaking the colossal restoration work that has returned this jewel of Calabrian Baroque to its visitors.

Calabria Historical Houses in the province of Catanzaro are worthily represented by Gallelli Castle, in Badolato.

We are in one of Italy's Most Beautiful Villages, suspended between the Ionian Sea and the hill on which the ancient mediaeval historic centre stands. Here, on the hillside, Gallelli Castle dominates an extraordinary panoramic view.

The imposing private building, which today can be visited by appointment as a venue for events and weddings, was commissioned in 1853 by Baron Giuseppe Lorenzo Gallelli to Tuscan craftsmen. Erected in the heart of an estate extending over some 630 hectares, the castle was designed to resist possible attacks by brigands, as demonstrated by the five crenellated reinforcement towers, four of which are hexagonal on either side of the building, and the 28 loopholes for firing and the drop of boiling oil to protect the entrance.

Gallelli Castle retains its original furnishings and interior decorations (paintings, paintings, furniture and collections dear to the family), as well as possessing a unique feature in Calabria: the papal living room, with a Baroque-style wooden seat reserved for His Holiness, should he visit Badolato.

The rooms that fall within the estate include a refined stone farmhouse, the servants' building, the stables and a lovely wood-burning oven.

The penultimate stop on our itinerary to discover Historical Houses of Calabria takes us to the Costa degli Achei, in the province of Cosenza.

We stop in the vast municipality of Corigliano-Rossano to visit no less than 4 Historical Houses of Calabria scattered along the coastline, the panoramic hills and the two historic centres.

We start with a "must" in the area: Palazzo Amarelli in Rossano, with an adjoining Liquorice Museum. We are immersed in the historic estate of the Amarelli family, which has been producing the prized Liquorice of Calabria DOP for decades. The museum is the second most visited among Italian corporate museums. 

The palace is an imposing fortified manor house (as evidenced by the buttresses and embrasures), surrounded by numerous settlers' lodgings, warehouses, workshops and the classic \"concio\" for extracting liquorice juice.

Moving into the historic centre of Rossano, we visit the sumptuous Museum of Palazzo Cherubini, owned by the family of the same name, now a luxury accommodation facility.

One of Calabria's Historical Houses of the 19th century, Palazzo Cherubini retains its 19th-century charm intact, through the beauty of its frescoes and decorations in the reception rooms and suites. The current wellness area, dedicated to guests, exploits the charm of the old cistern.

Just a few minutes from the historic centre of Rossano, surrounded by greenery with a panoramic view, stands Villa Ciminata Greco.

This mansion dates back to the 18th century and today appears as a large, charming accommodation facility. The carefully restored stone building retains wooden ceilings, the imposing stone millstones of the old olive press, the historic library (with over 5,000 texts) and a small private church.

We conclude this rich stage among Calabria's Historical Houses in Corigliano-Rossano with a visit to Villa Salvidio.

In the middle of a centuries-old olive grove, the large fortified palace with its noble chapel is the perfect location for weddings and private events.

A settlement of very ancient foundation, Montegiordano, on the Upper Ionian in the province of Cosenza, dates back to the 4th century B.C., as shown by important finds from the Greek and Roman periods and the excavation of an ancient Lucanian farm in the locality of Menzinàra.

Alongside classical archaeology, there is an example of industrial archaeology that had a considerable impact on the development of the area, whose history is imprinted in the remains of the old disused cement factory. 

A true architectural symbol is the Castle of Montegiordano (listed among the Historical Residences of Calabria). Built by the Pignone del Carretto family as a winter residence and hunting lodge, the castle is a charming location for events and a wine estate of excellence (Tenuta del Castello) immersed in a landscape of great natural beauty.

A monumental staircase and a round arch give access to the upper floor; a little further down the valley rises what was once the aristocratic chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine.

The hamlet of Montegiordano Marina is one of the most popular beaches along the Costa degli Achei.