Franciscan Protoconvent

The Franciscan Protoconvent of Castrovillari was founded in 1220 by Pietro Catin, a disciple of the "Poverello d'Assisi". The imposing complex, recently restored, is striking for its two cloisters; it houses the Municipal Art Gallery dedicated to Andrea Alfano, where one can admire the works donated to the hometown by the well-known painter (1879-1967), one of the most authoritative exponents of 20th-century Calabrian artistic culture. The Protoconvento also houses the Civic Museum, which houses a rich collection of archaeological finds discovered in the area over the last fifty years: fragments of impasto pottery, bronzes, weapons, jewellery, from the Iron Age to the Norman period.

The "Sybaris" Theatre, housed in the former stables of the Franciscan Protoconvent, now offers around 300 seats divided into gallery and stalls, and it is the centre of the city's theatrical activities and events.