Stilo

Stilo is located in the Ionian part of the province of Reggio Calabria, in the Locride region, overlooking the Costa dei Gelsomini. The old village, high up on Mount Consolino, is laid out in tiers and features stone palaces, small squares, flights of steps and alleys between characteristic dark stone houses. Home of the philosopher Tommaso Campanella, to whom a 1923 bronze monument in Piazza Carnovale is dedicated.

In the 10th century, Stilo was the main Byzantine centre of southern Calabria. It hosted Basilian monks, to whom we owe the construction of the Cattolica: a splendid church built entirely of brick, with three apses and five small cylindrical domes. Also noteworthy is the Duomo, the church of San Francesco, founded in the 14th century, and that of San Giovanni Theresti, a Baroque church, with interiors adorned with stucco. One of the caves carved into the rock, which the Basilian monks lived in during their life of retreat and prayer, now houses the impressive rock church of the Divine Shepherdess.