Sangineto

Sangineto is a town of about 1,200 inhabitants in the province of Cosenza, on the Upper Tyrrhenian Cosentino coast, and marks the southern end of the Riviera dei Cedri, the coastal strip that runs from Tortora to here. It has two cores: the old centre on the hill, gathered around the castle, and Sangineto Lido, at Le Crete, near the sea along the SS18 state road. The town’s name is also that of the Sangineto family, of Norman origin, which in the 14th century ruled counties and towns of Angevin Calabria and took its surname from this very fief.

Geography

The territory climbs from the shore to the inland hills and borders Belvedere Marittimo, Bonifati and Sant’Agata di Esaro. Besides the main village and the Lido it includes the hamlets of Brombolo, Cacciola, Pantana, San Basile and Santo Ianni. By the sea, Sangineto Lido is the part that comes alive in summer, when its population grows markedly compared with winter; on the hill the old centre keeps the layout of the feudal village. Sangineto is also the point where the Riviera dei Cedri, the stretch of the Upper Tyrrhenian Cosentino coast where the citron is grown and processed, reaches its southern limit.

History

Sangineto’s historical weight is greater than the town itself. In the 13th century the fief gave its surname to a family of Norman blood which, under the Angevins, became one of the most influential in the region. The name Ruggero Sangineto recurs several times in the sources: in 1287 a feudal lord of that name modernised the castle and walls of Belvedere, in 1298 a Ruggero di Sangineto became lord of San Marco Argentano and in 1299 a Ruggero Sangineto was the first count of Corigliano; the leading members of the house (Ruggero, Francesco, Gerardo and Ruggero II) all held the offices of captain general and justiciar of Calabria and of Val di Crati and Terra Giordana. Filippo Sangineto, a man of arms and later an official of King Robert of Anjou, is recorded from 1319 as lord of Brahalla, today’s Altomonte, which he turned into one of the leading artistic centres of Angevin Calabria, building the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione with works by Simone Martini and Bernardo Daddi. The house died out through the female line: in 1342 Bionda Sangineto married Roberto Sanseverino, count of Terlizzi, and through that marriage San Marco, Corigliano, Sangineto and Belvedere passed to the Sanseverino of Terlizzi; in 1380 Giovannello, last of the male line of Altomonte, died, and his sister Margherita married Venceslao Sanseverino. That is how the town passed to the Sanseverino, who in the 15th century split into the Salerno and Bisignano branches: it was the princes of Bisignano who built, in the second half of the 15th century, the castle that still dominates the village. A far more recent episode has entered the town’s memory: on 4 November 1918, the day of the armistice, Austrian prisoners planted an olive tree in the castle courtyard as a sign of peace, and it still grows today.

What to see

The Angevin castle, built by the Sanseverino princes of Bisignano in the second half of the 15th century, has a rectangular plan and keeps a wide arcade; in the middle of the courtyard rises the old olive tree of 1918. The parish church of Santa Maria della Neve, dating to 1200, holds a baptistery and a 17th-century portal. The route is completed by the Convent of San Francesco di Paola and three chapels, dedicated to San Giuseppe, the Madonna del Carmine and San Michele Arcangelo, the town’s second patron. The castle is so much part of its identity that it appears on the municipal coat of arms, drawn in gold with its four-arched loggia.

Coat of arms and patron saints

Sangineto’s coat of arms and banner were granted by decree of the President of the Republic on 29 February 1996. The shield is divided horizontally: in the upper, golden part, a green uprooted palm tree with four bunches of golden dates; in the lower, blue part, the castle of Sangineto without battlements, in gold with black masonry, with windowed side towers, a central body with two doors and a central loggia of four arches, set on a green ground. The banner is a cloth divided into blue and green. The patron saints are Santa Maria della Neve, celebrated on 5 August, and San Michele Arcangelo, on 28 and 29 September.

Food and crafts

Sangineto’s cooking is that of the rural hinterland: potato gnocchi with a sauce of sausage and braciole, aubergine fritters, the frissurata of dried courgettes, beans, potatoes and maize bread. From the countryside come sausages and capocollo, served as starters; among the first courses, hand-made fusilli with pork ragù, tagliatelle with beans and chickpeas, pasta and beans with ground red pepper, polenta with cabbage and broad beans or with potatoes, beans and roasted peppers. Aubergines return in many recipes and kid goat is the star of the main courses. A domestic craft of objects in willow, cane and rush, of lace and embroidery, survives, along with a private production of cheeses, honey, dried fruit, oil and wine.

Getting there

Sangineto is reached along the SS18 Tirrena Inferiore state road, which crosses the Lido; from there a road climbs to the old centre on the hill. The reference railway station is Belvedere Marittimo, on the Tyrrhenian line. By car from the A2 “del Mediterraneo” motorway: from the north, exit Lagonegro nord, then the SS585 Fondo Valle del Noce to the coast and the SS18 southwards; from the south, exit Falerna and the SS18 northwards. The nearest airport is Lamezia Terme.