Laino Castello (Cosenza) extends along Colle San Teodoro at 545m above sea level, on the Calabrian side of the Mercure valley, in Pollino National Park. Surrounded by the river Lao, the village has a historical centre of low-lying houses well distributed along the hill which were abandoned following the earthquake of 1982 but have been now reclaimed as part of an extended hotel (albergo diffuso).
The medieval castle, built by the Lombards from the 800s onwards, rises at the summit of the hill on a rocky spur used for the village cemetery. Ruined walls and the bastions of a tower remain today, but only the recently restored upper part where the Byzantine Church of St. Theodore Martyr with medieval tower is located, is accessible.
Laino Castello nuovo (so-called to distinguish it from the historic centre) is the residential settlement that rehoused the population following the earthquake in the 1980s. It stands in a plain and features many wide treelined streets. The main gathering place in the village is piazza I Maggio, with the monument to the Fallen, the town hall and the modern Church of St. Theodore.
Laino Castello also includes numerous rural areas, which cover almost all the remaining territory of the municipality, where traditional agricultural methods and local customs are still in use.
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