Della Valle Castle

The Della Valle Castle in Fiumefreddo Bruzio, among Italy's Most Beautiful Villages in the province of Cosenza, is a veritable terrace on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The village of Fiumefreddo Bruzio and the remains of its important castle tell a fascinating story, made up of fishing, invasions, traditions, but above all great encounters, such as the one with Salvatore Fiume, a Sicilian painter who turned the medieval ruins of the castle into a masterpiece of contemporary art, which can still be visited today.

In the summer of 1975, the artist painted a cycle of 13 frescoes in the Della Valle Castle in Fiumefreddo Bruzio: known as the Eden Room, the paintings on the inside walls of the ruins tell the story of a Calabrian slave girl imprisoned by the Turks. On a second trip, in 1996, the artist painted a new cycle, entitled The Room of Desires. The new scenes also depict the tenor Luciano Pavarotti and a self-portrait in the company of Fiume's new wife, the beautiful Zaù, of African origin. 

Dating back to 1054, the Della Valle Castle in Fiumefreddo Bruzio was built by Robert Guiscard, who wanted an impregnable fortress. So it was until the arrival of the Napoleonic army, which razed it to the ground with cannonballs (traces of which are still visible along with the remains of the two 16th-century circular towers). Some of the rooms still have their floors and windows made of worked tufa, while the basements, subject to archaeological excavations, are now used as exhibition and conference rooms.