Badolato
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
Robert Guiscard raised a castle here in 1080, and the village grew around it on a hill between two fiumare near the Ionian coast. Earthquakes and a 1951 flood drew many people down to the new Badolato Marina, and in 1986 the emptying village was provocatively called a town for sale. Many houses have since been restored; in 2024 it came second in the Borgo dei Borghi contest.
Highlights
- Santa Caterina, with a 15th–16th-century altar and Madonna and Child panel
- Santa Maria degli Angeli, a Baroque church with its Franciscan convent
- Sant'Isidoro, with traces of Byzantine frescoes
- Palazzo Gallelli, built in 1598
- Local olive oil and wine, much of it exported
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Badolato (IT), Badolato (EN)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 2,843
Events through the year
- A CunfruntaMeeting of Mary and the risen Christ; banners are run and swung
- Good Friday processionMale choir, dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows to the Franciscan convent
- Holy Saturday crucifixion re-enactmentCostumed Romans, mourners and hooded flagellants walk to the convent
- Feast of Saint Andrew Avellino
- Feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Badolato). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Local food & wine
- Mustazzoli di vino cottoSweetSweets made with cooked must, traditional at weddings
- Pana 'e majuBread and pastaHome-style bread made with elderflowers
- Rice with wild fennel and 'ndujaDish
- Pasta e lambehriDishPasta with snails
- Home-made pasta with goat meat sauceDish
- Wild artichokes in oilLocal produce
Adapted from Wikipedia (Badolato). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
No places to stay are mapped within 3 km.
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Thermal baths nearby
- Thermal spa: Terme di Agnana · ~1 h 15 by car
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Stilo · 11 km
- Gerace · 43 km
- Tropea · 57 km
- Aiello Calabro · 69 km
- Santa Severina · 73 km