La Cattolica

The small church is the most characteristic monument of Byzantine Calabria and it was presumably founded between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century.The plant is a Greek cross with three apses and five domes. The interior is divided into nine square spaces by the presence of four Roman columns and it is frescoed with wall paintings. The small windows of the domes allow the light to filter, expanding the space. Outside, the complex is compact and characterized by the perfect mimesis with the landscape.There are several hypotheses about its foundation and original function, but the scholars are mainly divided between those who assume that the Catholic was originally the main church of the Byzantine kastron of Stilo and those who believe that it was the Katholicòn of a monastic settlement in caves active in the area.The second theory seems the most plausible if we consider the small size of the building, its position on the slopes of Mount Consolino and the presence of numerous caves nearby.