Casa di Lina

Stilo (Stylon in Greek and Stilu in Calabria dialect) is a City with 2.742 citizens in the area of Reggio Calabria. Its origins are linked with the destruction of the city Kaulon during Greek period by Dionigi of Siracusa.
It is setted on the feet of Consolino Mount. Close to the City of Ferdinandea the Wood of Stilo spreads, a typical example of wood in Calabria Sierras, with silver firs and beeches and a rich underbrush. There are some protected wildlifes, like selvatic cat, marten and several species of birds.
Even today in Stilo you could hear people talking in Old Greek dialect.


"Cattolica" of Stilo

Calabria was subjected to Byzentin Empire until XI century, so this region has lot of testimonies of Oriental art. An important example of that is the "Cattolica" of Stilo, a small jewel of Byzantine Architecture.
The "Cattolica" was the mother of the 5 churchs of the town. It was ruled by a vicar, who had the right to be buried inside the church. Human remains with a valuable ring found inside a marmorean grave are the proof of that.
The name "Cattolica" was used to signify the category of "privileged churches". Infact, in Byzantine lenguage spoken by South Italy people during Byzantine occupation, the noun "katholikì" was used to indicate the churches with the baptistery. Obviously the "Cattolica" is a typical example of Byzantine Architecture as we can guess looking at the plant and the construction, the only example with its "twin", the church of San Marco in Rossano in the west on Adriatico Sea. The particular location of the light's souces inside the "Cattolica" underlines the space and gives to it more energy. This tecnic was used to brought out the paints in the church.