Fagnano Castello is located on Mount Caloria, part of the Coastal mountain range of Calabria, about an hour north of Cosenza.

A German glottologist, and also a great expert on southern Italy, finds the origin of the name in the Latin expression Fannianum Praedium (property of Fannius).

[4] Another accepted hypothesis considers the origins of the town's name to derive from the beech (Faggio in Italian), which dominates the local fauna.

To confirm the hypothesis, some coins dating back to the Second Punic War were found on which the wording "Fannius et Fili" is "printed".

[6] In 1050, with the Norman conquest of southern Italy, Fagnano became part of the County of Apulia and Calabria under the guide of Robert Guiscard.

[11] His heir Pietrantonio Sanseverino, married to Erina Kastriota Skanderberg of Albanian origins, maintained order and defense in his fiefdoms.

He also participated, distinguishing himself, in the wars that Spain moved under the emperor Charles V. On 4 March 1525 he sold the fiefdom, for 3000 ducats, with right of withdrawal to Nicolantonio Falangola, Patrician of Sorrento; with Royal Assent of 22 August 1527, the sale became definitive, and with the title of Baron.

[13] In 1622, the Falangolas were deprived of the fiefdom as they had sided with the French during the descent of Charles VIII in Italy and with Royal Assent, on 27 November 1622, in order not to lose everything, they were forced to sell it to Cesare Firrao, Prince of Luzzi.

The place where spirits were ignited and hopes were cultivated was the Maiarota café, on the corner between the middle street and the small square of San Pietro.

[14] Many Fagnanese scholars adhered to the ideas of Mazzini, to the federalism of Cattaneo, to the United States of Europe of Victor Hugo.

[18] Precisely for this reason, Camillo Benso Count of Cavour, at the suggestion of Costantino Nigra, commissioned Pietro Fumel to counter brigandage in Calabria.

Pietro Fumel, having carte blanche, became the protagonist of many nefarious criminal actions, including the massacre of around one hundred defenseless farmers in Fagnano, carried out by the troops of the Royal Italian Army.

Among the historical-architectural testimonies include the churches of the Immaculate and of San Pietro, rebuilt in the Baroque age, on previous buildings of worship.

According to this story, the mother, sad and desperate, addressed a prayer to Mary with the sincere intention of raising a temple in her name so that her son could be saved.

So all the people of Fagnano offered money and resources for the erection of the Temple, and after thirty years the church was completed and inaugurated by the then Bishop of San Marco Argentano Monsignor Giovanni Antonio Grignetta in 1581.

[25] The main facade has a portal framed by an elliptical arch surmounted by a rose window, the work of Emilio Fabris, a student of the local Barone school.

Above there is the tympanum decorated in relief on which stands the statue of the Archangel Michael, created by Camillo Capolupo of the local Barone school.

The triple-naved interior, rich in baroque stuccos, houses a statue of the Virgin of the Rosary and a wooden pulpit from the late 18th century.

The square is named after the doctor and bacteriologist Alfonso Splendore, born in Fagnano, who greatly helped the discovery of toxoplasmosis, making a huge step on the study of human pathology.

In the museum there is an important collection of artefacts, tools and photos attesting to life in the houses, fields, shops and streets of Fagnano Castello until after the Second World War.