Badolato

Badolato had a rather trying life during the twentieth century, marked by painful migratory movements and tentative signs of return to its beautiful historic center. Already scarred by the aftermath of World War II and the earthquake that in 1947 had semi-destroyed Isca sullo Ionio and caused much damage to the historic center as well, Badolato suffered the dramatic flood of 1951 that forced much of the population to move to the Marina or nearby towns in the new houses provided by the government. The tear was, again, painful and irreparable. Abandonment reached such aberrant heights that in the 1980s it provocatively raised the proposal to put the whole country up for sale. The cause, espoused by local journalism, soon reached the headlines, thus attracting to the small Ionian town numerous devotees willing to buy for pennies houses condemned to destruction. In 1997, eight hundred Kurds landed off the coast of Badolato and were hosted by Badolatesi who handed them the keys to abandoned houses. A successful experiment in coexistence that has made it possible to write a beautiful page in the history of our region. Thus life in Badolato has somewhat “restarted,” although today many new fellow citizens mostly reside there in the summer. The village is truly delightful as well as endowed with spectacular views: this was well understood from its origins in the 13th century when it was endowed by the feudal lord, Roger of Lauria, with an impressive defensive system and a castle, now unfortunately destroyed. Its orographic structure, resembling an upside-down boat hull, allowed it to take advantage of territorial control and, therefore, to be coveted by many feudal lords. Despite having lost the nerve center of military power, which stood on the upper part of the town, Badolato still retains its original medieval layout, structured on a single decumanus that runs along the east-west axis, intersected by a maze of alleys that amplify the concentric rings that still make it up today. Numerous churches and palaces that belonged to local noble families can still be appreciated today, although in need of restoration.

The Mother Church, dedicated to St. Andrew Avellino, is of Norman foundation but extensively rebuilt during the 17th century. Damaged by the 1947 earthquake, it retains much of the six-eighteenth-century structure to which belong three polychrome marble altars, the most valuable of which is the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, the altar of Our Lady of Sorrows with the coeval pictorial altarpiece, and the seventeenth-century bust of St. Andrew Avellino, patron saint of Badolato, covered with fine decoration in estofado de oro. The church of St. Catherine has a remarkable 17th-century wooden altar by masters from Rogliano, on which stands a valuable 16th-century panel of the Iberian school depicting the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The panel also features the newly-canonized St. Francis of Paola.
The confraternal church of the Immaculate Conception, located to the east on the far edge of the village, can only be reached via a very steep staircase. Founded in the seventeenth century, it was rebuilt in the nineteenth century in the elegant forms we admire today: the single-nave layout is completely covered with a rich array of neoclassical stucco of clear Serrese manufacture that still retains even the original colors. On the altar is the eighteenth-century altarpiece of the Titular, which was effigyed in the delightful eighteenth-century processional statue. At the opposite end of the village is the church of San Domenico, the most sumptuous in the village: formerly belonging to the Dominican fathers, it was erected in the 17th century in simplified forms inspired by the Basilica of Soriano. The façade is a Serrese work made entirely of granite; the interior shines with the stucco work done by Pietro Joele of Fiumefreddo Bruzio, who attended to the decoration of the vault around 1780. The panels were frescoed by Francesco Colelli, who also painted the high altarpiece depicting Our Lady of Relief with St. Michael the Archangel.
Just outside the town, on the hill of the same name, stands the Convent of the Reformed fathers dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels surrounded by an expanse of olive trees. The seventeenth-century structure was rebuilt and enlarged several times while maintaining, however, the poverty of the place: the Baroque interior is embellished by the spectacular cone of the high altar, a wooden work from 1710 that houses in its interior the sculptural group depicting Our Lady of the Angels with Saints Francis and Louis of Toulouse, a masterpiece by Friar Diego Giurato of Careri who waited there around 1640. Also his is the theory of musician angels supporting the large tabernacle and the poignant Crucifix, now in a convent chapel. The prestigious 17th-century wooden choir has long been waiting to be restored and reassembled. Also of interest are the canvases that are part of the decoration of the nave. In addition to the procession of the patron St. Andrew, St. Catherine and the Immaculate Conception, Easter time is particularly experienced in Badolato, which ends with the procession of the “Naca” on Holy Saturday and the confrontation on Resurrection morning. The “naca” in Calabrian dialect is the cradle, that is, the cataletto set up to carry the dead Christ in procession accompanied by the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. During the procession, the dramatization of the Passion scenes is repeated with figures dressed as Roman soldiers escorting along with other hooded figures the one who plays the Nazarene: thunderous gestures, shouts and dialectal chants are repeated on these occasions that would seem to recall the rites and sounds of Passover. On Easter morning, however, the meeting between the statues of Christ and the Mother in gramaglie is preceded by the running of the banners of the village’s lay congregations that serve as heralds of the Resurrection. Once the encounter between the statues is over, the banner bearers engage in the spectacular as well as risky ritual of dancing the banners, held up exclusively with the use of their mouths.