Calabria · Cosenza
Laino Borgo
Southern Italy's only Sacro Monte, sixteen pilgrimage chapels begun in 1557, on the Lao river canyon that made it Calabria's rafting capital.
Known for
SACRO MONTE
Sixteen pilgrimage chapels begun 1557 by Domenico Longo after a Holy Land journey, the only Sacro Monte in southern Italy.
LAO RAFTING
Southern Italy's main rafting centre, descents through a 200-meter canyon on the river Lao from spring through autumn.
GARLIC AND HAZELNUTS
Aglio di Laino Borgo, a strongly flavoured Calabrian garlic, paired with Città della Nocciola hazelnut groves on the surrounding slopes.
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
Why come
Laino Borgo sits at 582 meters on the border between Calabria and Basilicata, at the entrance of the Pollino National Park, Italy's largest protected area and a UNESCO Geopark since 2015. The name traces to the river Lao, after the ancient Greek city of Laüs founded on the Tyrrhenian coast below. The signature site is the Santuario delle Cappelle, the only Sacro Monte in southern Italy: sixteen small chapels begun in 1557 by Domenico Longo on his property after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, depicting scenes from the Bethlehem grotto to the Crucifixion.
The Lao runs through a 200-meter canyon below the village and made Laino Borgo the main rafting and canoeing centre of southern Italy; outfitters launch from a wooden bridge near Piazza Navarro from spring through autumn. Garlic, hazelnuts and the Norman Castle ruins on the upper edge of the centro storico fill the rest of the picture. The commune is a Borgo Autentico d'Italia.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Laino Borgo’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.
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What to see
Santuario delle Cappelle (Sacro Monte)
Only Sacro Monte in southern Italy, sixteen pilgrimage chapels begun in 1557 by Domenico Longo after a journey to the Holy Land.
Rafting on the Lao river
Main rafting and canoeing centre of southern Italy, with descents through a 200-meter canyon, launches from a wooden bridge near Piazza Navarro.
Castello Normanno
Norman castle ruins on the upper edge of the centro storico, a vantage point over the Lao valley and the Pollino slopes opposite.
Chiesa Madre dello Santo Spirito
Mother church of the village in the historic centre, with a fourteenth-century San Nicola chapel preserving early-medieval traces.
Pollino National Park entrance
Western entrance to Italy's largest national park and UNESCO Geopark since 2015, with trails into the Lao river valley and the Orsomarso ridges.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Laino Borgo 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 1,705
- Very remotei
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Lamezia / Reggio, 2 h 13 min drive
- Regional capital Catanzaro, 2 h 28 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 582 m
- Population: 1,705
- Surface area: 57.08 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.
Featured on
Laino Borgo appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Close by
More towns near Laino Borgo
Morano Calabro
Province: Cosenza
A conical hill of stone houses stacked under a Norman-Swabian castle at the southern gate of the Pollino, called Italy's nativity village.
Mormanno
Province: Cosenza
A Pollino mountain borgo at 840 meters between the Costa and Vernita ridges, known for lentils, white poverelli beans and the bocconotto pastry.
Lagonegro
Province: Potenza
A 666-meter Valle del Noce town founded by Byzantine monks, where local legend places the burial of Lisa del Giocondo, Leonardo's Mona Lisa.
Rivello
Province: Potenza
A 479-meter ridge above the Noce valley where Lombards and Byzantines lived side by side, holding Latin and Greek rites until the seventeenth century.
Rotonda
Province: Potenza
The Pollino park's Lucanian gateway — a 3,171-resident borgo at 626m on the Basilicata/Calabria border, headquartered HQ for the Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Italy's largest national park), with the Fagiolo Bianco Poverello + Melanzana Rossa di Rotonda DOP slow-food products, the Borgo Autentico mark, and the Loricato pine forests immediately above town.
💎 Borghi Autentici
More Borghi Autentici towns in Calabria
Albidona
Province: Cosenza
A hill village at 810 meters between the Pollino and the Ionian, identified by ancient writers as Leutarnia, the city founded by Calchas after Troy.
Alessandria del Carretto
Province: Cosenza
The highest village in the Pollino at 1,043 meters, the only Italian commune carrying its founder's full name, with a fir-tree ritual every 3 May.
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.
Cirò
Province: Crotone
A hill village at 351 meters above the Ionian, the historic heart of Cirò DOC, Calabria's first denominazione and a candidate for the region's first DOCG.
Gizzeria
Province: Catanzaro
An Arbëreshë hill village at 600 meters above the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia, with kitesurf beaches and brackish lagoons on the Tyrrhenian below.