Calabria · Catanzaro
Badolato
A medieval borgo of thirteen churches above the Ionian, which took in 350 Kurdish refugees in 1997 and started its own slow rebirth.
Known for
TOWN OF CHURCHES
Thirteen historic churches inside the centro storico, arranged in the shape of a Latin cross, most now silent.
KURDISH ARRIVAL
In December 1997 the Ararat ran aground at Badolato Marina; the village took in 350 Kurdish refugees, becoming an Italian model for hospitality.
OIL AND WINE
Olive oil and wine production on the slopes between the borgo and the sea, the local agricultural economy for centuries.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Andrea Avellino, 10 November
Why come
Badolato sits on a hill above the Ionian coast in the southern Catanzaro province, ringed by two deep valleys that drop toward the sea. The fief was granted around 1080 to the Norman knight Roberto il Guiscardo; in 1254 Filippo de Badulato was named lord, and the village stayed in his hands until 1272 when Pietro Ruffo, Count of Catanzaro, removed him. The medieval grid was laid out in the shape of a Latin cross, with thirteen churches inside the centro storico, most of them now closed; only the Chiesa Matrice, dedicated to the Santissimo Salvatore, holds regular services.
In 1997 the village, severely depopulated by emigration, took in 350 Kurdish refugees from a ship that ran aground on the coast. The episode turned Badolato into a model for resettlement and started a slow rebirth of the historic center, with houses bought and restored by foreign and Italian returnees. Olive oil and wine are the main agricultural products.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Badolato’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.
What to see
Chiesa Matrice del Santissimo Salvatore
Mother church of Badolato, the only one of the thirteen historic churches still in regular use.
Chiesa di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria
Medieval church preserved with a fresco that village women blocked from being moved for restoration, in a famous local protest.
Convento di Santa Maria degli Angeli
Former Franciscan monastery on a hill outside the village, now home to a Mondo X recovery community founded by Padre Eligio.
Centro storico
Medieval grid laid out in a Latin cross, with stepped stone streets, depopulated by emigration and being restored house by house.
Badolato Marina
The seaside frazione three kilometers below the historic village, where the Kurdish ship Ararat ran aground in December 1997.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Badolato fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 2,843
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Lamezia / Reggio, 1 h 18 min drive
- Regional capital Catanzaro, 56 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 240 m
- Population: 2,843
- Surface area: 37.07 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Badolato
Soverato
Province: Catanzaro
On the Gulf of Squillace with the white-sand stretch called the Pearl of the Ionian, the wealthiest town per capita in Calabria.
Riace
Province: Reggio di Calabria
A 300-meter borgo on the Locride hills, famous for the 1972 bronzes pulled from its sea and the refugee resettlement project that doubled its population.
Stilo
Province: Reggio di Calabria
A Byzantine hilltown below Monte Consolino, home to the tenth-century Cattolica and the legendary inspiration for Campanella's City of the Sun.
Pizzo
Province: Vibo Valentia
A tuff-cliff town over the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia, where Joachim Murat was shot in 1815 and the tartufo gelato was invented a century later.
Cicala
Province: Catanzaro
A village of 887 people at 829 meters on the western foothills of the Sila Piccola, founded in 1616 by farmers asking the Count Cigala for land.
🎨 Borghi più belli d'Italia
More Borghi più belli d'Italia towns in Calabria
Aiello Calabro
Province: Cosenza
A hilltop borgo at 502 meters in the Tyrrhenian hinterland of Cosenza, ruled for two centuries by the Cybo-Malaspina from Massa Carrara.
Aieta
Province: Cosenza
An eagle's-nest village in the western Pollino, with one of the few sixteenth-century Renaissance palazzi standing in Calabria.
Altomonte
Province: Cosenza
The highest Gothic-Angevin church in Calabria, a Simone Martini panel commissioned in 1326, and a hill of 455 meters in the Esaro valley.
Bova
Province: Reggio di Calabria
The capital of the Bovesìa — a 416-resident Aspromonte hilltop borgo at 820m that is the cultural centre of the Grecanic minority, where the Calabrian-Greek dialect (a direct descendant of Byzantine-era Greek) is still spoken by elders, with the triple Borghi più belli + Bandiera Arancione + Parco Nazionale dell'Aspromonte signal.
Caccuri
Province: Crotone
A 646-meter Presila borgo dominated by a sixth-century Byzantine castle with a cylindrical tower built in 1882, birthplace of Renaissance statesman Cicco Simonetta.