Cardinal

An authentic Calabrian capital, together with the nearby Torre di Ruggero, of hazelnut production and which had in the Razzona ironworks, flourishing especially in the first half of the 19th century, one of the poles of the iron and steel district of the Serre area. Also part of the Razzona territory is the so-called “casino” or “castle” that belonged to Carlo Filangieri, prince of Satriano and duke of Cardinale, who used it as a base for hunting. In the locality of Chianu da Jannara, in the Lacina forest, it is, moreover, possible to see the remains of another castle, that of the Baroness (this is Maria Enrichetta Scoppa of Badolato, who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries), today reduced to the state of ruins and of which the corner towers are visible, but which still in the 1950s was preserved in fair condition, as documented by photos of the time. Linked to the castle is one of the most persistent legends in the collective imagination of the Park area, according to which in its marshy surroundings the lovers of its owner were made to disappear, inside so-called eyes of seas flowing into the Ionian Sea. Cardinale’s historic center is notable for a number of palaces in which decorative and constructive elements made of granite constitute important evidence of the spread of stone craftsmanship and its use also in the embellishment of civil buildings. Among them are palazzo Pelaggi and its entrance portal, palazzo Mammone and, above all, palazzo Nisticò, with its rich ashlar granite portal surmounted by an apotropaic mask and with the first-floor balcony supported by stone corbels of fine workmanship. Also worth visiting in the historic center is the three-nave Chiesa Matrice, dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari and rebuilt after the 1783 earthquake, which contains valuable wooden statues. Of historical interest is the three-arch bridge, now disused, that connected the town with the hamlet of Galiano.