Borgo Maggiore
In 2015 Gerace is seventh among the 20 "Most beautiful Villages in Italy". The town, which has a Medieval setting, falls within the Aspromonte National Park. The ancient town is full of churches, palaces and rooms carved into the rock. You can admire the Castle, the Cathedral and the St. Francis's Church, as well as a number of small churches of Byzantine origin and many different styles of architecture. From its position, Gerace has a broad view over most of Locri area. Its history is closely linked to that of Locri Epizephiri. Center of outstanding importance for the southern Calabria, for the control of coastal trade and its particular natural fortification, Gerace became the object of attention from both the Byzantine Empire that the Kingdom of Sicily, as evidenced by the high quality and quantity of ecclesiastical and secular architecture, the result of imperial patronage (Swabian St. Joseph's Chapel, in the Cathedral), regal (St. Francis's Church, built by Charles II of Anjou, in 1294), princely and feudal (sumptuous palaces with stone portals carved by local stonemasons). Among the narrow streets you can admire numerous arches at "giustini vault", a typical technique of the place. From twelve Gates that originally opened in the walls, are now only four: Bishops Gate (or the Meridian), St. Lucy's Gate, Porta Maggiore and Sun Gate. On the public space of Piazza del Tocco, overlooking Calcheopulo Palace, Migliaccio Palace and Macrì Palace. The Castle, probably built during the seventh century AD, there remain a large tower and a few walls. The Cathedral is a building difficult to date and shows very clear signs of renovations and additions from various periods. St. Francis's Church of is one of the most important structures of the mendicant orders in Southern Italy, dating between the thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries.
* Enzo D'Agostino, Da Locri a Gerace: storia di una diocesi della Calabria bizantina dalle origini al 1480, Cosenza, 2004
