Borgo antico

Listed as one of "The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy", Altomonte winds through alleys and stairways around the Church of Consolation, the best example of Gothic-Angevine in Calabria, embellished with masterpieces of stone, like the magnificent portal, the great rose window and the massive bell tower. The Norman Castle (XII century), enlarged and restored several times by various feudal lords who succeeded, has maintained the original structure. The French spirit that reigns, is the result of suggestions received from Filippo Sangineto and Provencal and Angevin court of Naples, with reference also to the Norman-Swabian and Cistercian traditions. In Tommaso Campanella Square, the monument commemorating the stay of the philosopher in the Dominican Convent (1440) and the facade of the Pancaro Palace (XVI century), one of the oldest aristocratic houses of the town. The pleasant walk through the alleys leading to Balbia Square, the ancient Medieval balium, place of public assemblies, which is overlooked by the St. James the Apostle's Church, probably from the Byzantine and Bbaroque interior.

* Calabria angioina, in "Itinerari per la Calabria", Vicenza, 1983