The Cattolica in Stilo reopens on July 29 following PNRR renovations

The Catholic Church of Stilo, one of Italy’s most important Byzantine sites, is reopening its doors to visitors after nearly a year of closure. Starting Wednesday, July 29, 2026, one of the most iconic monuments of Calabria’s cultural heritage will once again be open to the public, following the completion of a comprehensive restoration program that involved both the church and the surrounding area, with the goal of improving visitor experience, accessibility, and safety. The reopening marks the end of a period that began on October 1, 2025, when the site was temporarily closed to allow for the planned restoration work.

With the return to regular opening hours, the Calabria Regional Directorate of National Museums has also established new visiting hours. The site will be closed on Mondays, while on Tuesdays and Sundays it will be open from 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. From Wednesday through Saturday, visitors may explore the site from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The same hours—from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.—will also apply on the first Sunday of each month and on August 15 (Ferragosto). The ticket office will close fifteen minutes before the monument’s closing time. To accommodate the expected increase in tourist traffic during the month of August, on Sundays, August 9, 16, 23, and 30, opening hours will also be extended to include the morning, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The reopening is the result of a complex series of interventions that have involved not only the monumental building but also the entire surrounding landscape. In particular, work has begun on the renovation of the Parco delle Clarisse, including the creation of new visitor paths, the planting of trees and vegetation, and the installation of new information points designed to improve the visitor experience and enhance the interpretation of the site. The stated goal of the project was to offer a more comprehensive visitor experience, highlighting every part of the Cattolica archaeological and monumental area. The closure to the public, ordered in the fall of 2025, was deemed essential precisely to allow for the proper execution of the planned works. The interventions were designed with a twofold purpose: on the one hand, to improve the site’s accessibility and visitor infrastructure; on the other, to ensure the conservation of one of Calabria’s most important monumental heritage sites, preserving its integrity and ensuring safer public access.

In parallel with the enhancement work, maintenance work planned as part of the project dedicated to the Cattolica di Stilo also continued. The project involved the maintenance of the historic site with an initial budget of 92,000 euros: after the completion of the bidding process, the total cost of the project was recalculated at 81,358.56 euros, resulting in cost savings of 10,641.45 euros compared to the original project. This sum was set aside to cover any additional costs arising from unforeseeable circumstances during the execution of the works, in compliance with current regulations and without altering the project’s objectives or the total authorized funding. Alongside this project, a project to remove architectural barriers, valued at 110,000 euros, was also developed.

The reopening, initially scheduled for spring, was postponed due to a series of exceptional events that occurred during the execution of the work. In fact, during the construction phase, the Calabrian Ionian coast was hit by violent storms accompanied by strong winds. These extreme weather conditions caused several cypress trees located above the path leading from the site’s entrance to the Byzantine church to topple. The falling trees compromised the stability of the stone retaining wall that runs alongside the access path, making further consolidation and safety measures essential. Technical assessments conducted on site determined that the damage to the wall was directly attributable to the weather events that occurred on March 18, 2026: according to the technical documentation, this was a weather event of exceptional intensity, unforeseeable at the time the detailed design was drafted or the contract was signed, and not attributable to normal construction site risks.

These same weather events also had consequences for the Parco delle Clarisse, another area affected by the enhancement projects. The landslide that occurred in the area compromised the portions of the park still occupied by the previous construction site related to the restoration and expansion of the monumental area, funded under Law 232 of 2016, making it impossible to carry out part of the work originally planned in the construction drawings.

To assess the situation, a joint site inspection was conducted on April 16, 2026, at the archaeological site in the presence of Fabrizio Sudano, Deputy Director of the Calabria Regional Directorate of National Museums, along with the Sole Project Manager, Construction Manager Carlo Bianco, and Operations Manager Luigi Giuseppe Massara. The meeting served to identify the necessary actions to ensure the site’s safety and to define how to proceed with the two construction sites currently active within the historic area.

Subsequently, surveys and measurements were conducted, which made it possible to define the work to be carried out along the access path to the Cattolica and to identify compensatory measures to replace those that can no longer be performed within the Parco delle Clarisse.

These assessments revealed the need to prepare an amendment, justified by the necessity of carrying out works not included in the original project but essential for ensuring the protection of the cultural heritage site and the safety of the public’s use of the site, without altering the general nature of the contract. Specifically, the additional work involved the removal and disposal of cypress trees that had fallen or were deemed hazardous, the cleaning and clearing of debris from the path, the restoration of the stone retaining wall through all necessary work, and the transport of materials to an authorized landfill.

With the completion of this comprehensive program of work, the Cattolica di Stilo is once again ready to welcome visitors, featuring a revamped network of trails, new informational resources, improved accessibility, and enhanced safety measures—particularly in light of the challenges caused by the exceptional weather events that have affected the area in recent months. The reopening on July 29 thus marks not only the end of the temporary closure that began in October 2025, but also the completion of a series of projects aimed at preserving and enhancing one of Calabria’s most important monuments of Byzantine architecture, returning it to the public in improved condition and with a particular focus on accessibility.

The Cattolica in Stilo reopens on July 29 following PNRR renovations

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