Aieta historic centre

Aieta’s historic centre occupies a ridge at 524 metres, looking north-west over the Tortora valley and south-east over the inner basin: it is the village that grew here after the Normans arrived, when the old stronghold on Monte Calimaro was abandoned. It is dominated by the Renaissance Palazzo Martirano-Spinelli, in via Cantogrande, a rare example of Renaissance architecture in Calabria. Its historically significant churches and palazzi have earned the village a place in the association of the Borghi più belli d’Italia. In piazza Monsignore Lomonaco stands the church of Santa Maria della Visitazione, from the 16th century, like the church of Santa Maria Assunta; in the Villaggio 1º maggio locality stands the church of the monastery of the Friars Minor Observant of St Francis of Assisi, built in 1520. The chapels mark other eras: San Biagio, in via Socastro, and Santa Lucia are given as 11th-century; San Vito Martire, dedicated to the patron celebrated on 15 June, dates from the 17th; completing the picture are the chapels of the Addolorata, San Giuseppe and Santa Maria della Purità. The eagle that gives the village its name, aetòs in Greek, returns in the town’s coat of arms.