Things to See in Stilo | 2 Monuments & Landmarks

All the monuments in Stilo

The landmarks and masterpieces worth planning a day around.

The five brick domes of the Cattolica di Stilo on its Calabrian hillside

ChurchHidden GemCattolica di StiloFive-domed Byzantine church, brick cube, 1927 frescoes, Monte Consolino settingLa Cattolica is a tiny Byzantine church on the slope of Monte Consolino above Stilo, built between the late tenth and early eleventh centuries by Eastern monks in the last years of Byzantine Calabria. It is a cube of brick, five cylindrical drums rising from the roof, each topped with a small dome, and it counts among the best-preserved Byzantine churches in Italy. Inside, four ancient columns carry the central dome; one bears a jeweled cross and another has Arabic inscriptions. Frescoes discovered in 1927 include the Dormition of the Virgin and the Ascension, with Christ in a mandorla. The church looks out over the valley and the sea beyond, and sits in a small setting of terraces.Plan the visit

Monastero di San Giovanni TheristisHidden GemSan Giovanni TheristisByzantine-Norman brick church, Basilian monastery, Orthodox liturgy, Stilaro valleyThis small Byzantine monastery stands in the Stilaro valley near Bivongi, in a green fold of the Calabrian Serre. It is named for John Theristis, a ninth-century monk from the region whose name means ‘the reaper’. The monastery grew in the eleventh century and became one of the most important Basilian houses in southern Italy through the Norman period, with a church that mixes Byzantine walls and Norman pilasters supporting a brick dome. Monks left in 1662 and the buildings were abandoned; the commune of Bivongi took them over in 1980. Since 1994 monks from Mount Athos and, from 2008, the Romanian Orthodox Church have lived here again. You can visit, and join the Divine Liturgy.

The Stilo guide

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Monuments a day trip away, elsewhere in Calabria.

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