Chiesa di San Michele

One of the most important examples of the Southern Renaissance in Calabria

The church, the main parish church of Vibo before the current Cathedral was built, is located at the highest point of the road which, in medieval times, represented the junction between the district of Borgonovo, gravitating around the castle, and that of Terravecchia, located on a lower plateau.

Recent studies have advanced the hypothesis that it was rebuilt by the first two decades of the sixteenth century on a pre-existing structure which had already been remodeled in the previous century. This would predate the traditional dating proposed for the start of the Renaissance intervention, believed to have followed the pastoral visit (1515) by Cardinal Andrea della Valle, then bishop of Mileto. The building, long considered a design by Baldassarre Peruzzi, who was among the cardinal's acquaintances, has more recently been linked to Neapolitan models, such as the Pontano chapel and the church of Santa Maria della Stella. However, the noble character of the work is certain, the result of the collaboration of Ettore Pignatelli, governor and then count of Monteleone (today Vibo Valentia) and the city representatives. The coats of arms of the city and of the Pignatelli family placed inside the church, at the base of the columns of the Holy Arch, allude to this dual commission. The bell tower was completed only at the end of the 17th century, when the presbytery area was rebuilt.