Francavilla Angitola is known as the town ‘of the dragon’ because of its hilly urban layout that echoes the mythical animal, a representation in the landscape, according to local culture, of the defence of San Foca, patron and protector against snakes. The Pendino district, of mediaeval origins, is peculiar, where, amid traditional types of dwellings reduced to ruins, there are aristocratic dwellings, some oil mills and, further out, a Greek-Byzantine calvary. The religious buildings of 16th-17th century origin are remarkable, such as the churches of San Foca Martire, Madonna delle Grazie and Rosario, partly rebuilt after the 1783 earthquake, as well as the remains of the convents of Santa Maria della Croce of the Augustinians, San Francesco dei Riformati and, in the urban area, Santa Maria dell’Annunziata of the Dominicans.