Francavilla Angitola

Francavilla Angitola is called the town “of the dragon” because of its hilly urban layout that echoes the mythical animal, a depiction in the landscape, according to local culture, of the defense of St. Foca, patron and protector against snakes. Particular is the Pendino district, of medieval origins, where, among traditional housing types reduced to ruins, noble dwellings, some oil mills and, further outside, a Greek-Byzantine calvary insist. Notable are the religious buildings of 16th-17th-century origin, such as the churches of St. Foca Martyr, Our Lady of Grace and Rosary, partly rebuilt after the 1783 earthquake, as well as the remains of the convents of St. Mary of the Cross of the Augustinians, St. Francis of the Reformed and, in the urban area, St. Mary of the Annunciation of the Dominicans.