The painted towns

Discover Diamante

The first news of the birth of an actual inhabited nucleus date back to 1500. Subsequently, wealthy merchants and a noble Neapolitan family, also of Spanish origin, settled here, giving life to the town. Diamante soon became a centre for fishing and agriculture and above all for its production of cedar. The town with its distinctive murals classified Diamante among the Towns of Paintings in Italy. Important to note are the finely crafted portals. 

Duration:1hr 30mins

In the Footsteps of St Francis of Paola

A journey through the sanctuaries and hermitages that portray the protagonist Saint of Calabria. From his native Paola, where St. Francis led the first years of his life as a hermit, to actioning his first miracles and building the first monastery in Paterno Calabro. Francis, now famous, was invited to build new monasteries and never did he spare himself of his mystical work. San Marco Argentano, home to the oldest convent in Calabria dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, who saw Francis as a child, fulfilled the vow made by his mother Vienna when his eye was in danger of being lost. 

The Thousand Faces of Paola 

one of the greatest spiritual places of the South Paola is known thanks to Francesco d’Alessio, better known as St. Francis of Paola, the founder of the Order of the Minims and patron saint of Calabria and seafarers in the world. First stop is a visit to the Sanctuary of St. Francis built where the saint in 1435 founded a chapel dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. Precisely in this area you can take “the path of miracles” which is a tour along the places that recall the miraculous events of Francis. The tour continues to the old town, located downstream of the Basilica where you can admire buildings (Complex St. Augustine, Jesuit College, Clock Tower, Arc de San Francisco), squares (Piazza del Popolo, P. rity Seven Fountains), fountains and churches (Cathedral – Church of Annunciation, Montevergine Church, Church of the Most Holy Rosary, Church of St. James) of great historical and artistic value as well as the birthplace of the saint. In addition a tour of the Abbey-Luta, an ancient abbey once called “Monasterium Sanctae Mariae de Vallis Josaphat Fossis” and the Church of Sotterra whose paintings on the apse and the presbytery are the most valuable feature, so much that the “World Monuments Fund” has placed it among the hundred most precious cultural heritage of humanity. 

• CIVIC BELT ROUTE 1: Visit the religious historic town centre of Paola 
• CIVIC BELT ROUTE 2: Visit the religious historic centre in the higher town of Paola 
• PATH OF THE PILGRIM: From the Sanctuary to birthplace. life and places of St. Francis 
• RENAISSANCE PATH: From the city centre to the marina of Paola in the footsteps of Garibaldi 
• THE ORIGINS OF PAOLA: A visit to the Monastery of Badia “Monasterium Sanctae Mariae de Vallis 
• Josaphat Fossis” 
• HISTORY AND RELIGION: A visit to the crypted Church of Sotterra and St. Michael’s Church 
• THE SANT’AGOSTINO COMPLEX: Visit the historical art of the oldest Augustinian complex in Calabria