What is Corigliano-Rossano known for?

Sixth-century Greek gospel on purple parchment, illuminated in gold, brought from Palestine in the ninth century and UNESCO-listed since 2015. Family liquorice business running since 1731 on the Sibari plain, where the root is recognised in scientific texts as the finest in the world. Norman castle built 1073 by Robert Guiscard, remodelled into a ducal palace, overlooking the Sibari citrus plain and the Ionian beyond.

Where is Corigliano-Rossano?

Corigliano-Rossano is a comune in the province of Cosenza, Calabria region of Italy, about 149 kilometers from Taranto.

Calabria · Cosenza

Corigliano-Rossano

The Sibari plain city merged in 2018, home of the UNESCO-listed sixth-century Codex Purpureus and the 1731 Amarelli liquorice dynasty.

149 km / 93 mi

Nearest hub (Taranto)

74,066

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Corigliano-Rossano is the largest commune on Calabria's Ionian side, seventy-four thousand people across the Sibari plain between the Sila slopes and the sea. It was created on 31 March 2018 by the merger of Corigliano Calabro and Rossano. Corigliano holds the Castello Ducale, built in 1073 by Robert Guiscard and remodelled over six centuries on a panoramic ridge above the citrus groves. Rossano, twenty kilometers east, is the older Byzantine half: the sixth-century Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, a purple-dyed Greek gospel illuminated in gold and brought from Palestine by a fleeing monk in the ninth century, is one of the oldest illuminated New Testament manuscripts and was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2015. The Amarelli liquorice factory, in business since 1731, runs a museum on the family estate. The Sibaritide coast carries Bandiera Blu beaches and the Patir abbey ruins above town.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello Ducale di Corigliano
Norman fortress commissioned by Robert Guiscard in 1073, remodelled into a ducal residence over the following six centuries, overlooking the Sibari plain.
Museo Diocesano e Codex Purpureus Rossanensis
Sixth-century Greek gospel on purple-dyed parchment, illuminated in gold, in the UNESCO Memory of the World register since 2015.
Museo della Liquirizia Amarelli
Family museum at the Amarelli estate, in business since 1731, tracing the production of Calabrian liquorice root, called the world's finest.
Abbazia di Santa Maria del Patire
Eleventh-century Italo-Greek monastery on a Sila ridge above Rossano, with a Cosmatesque mosaic floor and Byzantine wall remains.
Lungomare di Schiavonea
Bandiera Blu coastline along the Sibari plain, sand and pebble beaches stretching toward the Pollino headland in the north.
Centri storici di Corigliano e Rossano
Two distinct old towns, twenty kilometers apart, Corigliano around its castle and Rossano around its Byzantine cathedral and Codex.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September are the months the Sibari beaches and the Schiavonea promenade work; the Bandiera Blu coastline fills with Italian families in July and August when temperatures cross thirty-five. April and early October are dry and quiet, the right window for the Codex museum, the Amarelli estate and a drive up to the Patir abbey without summer crowds. November through March is winter on the Ionian: rough sea, reduced ferry traffic to Sibari archaeology sites, half the lidi closed. The Festa della Madonna Achiropita falls on 15 August in Rossano, when the Byzantine icon of the cathedral is carried through the centro storico.