The Patron
San Francesco di Paola
Francesco da Paola is the listed patron. His feast is on 2 May, with processions on land and by sea, although the FEAST field itself is absent.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Cosenza,
Calabria
A pilgrimage town whose district records cover much of the Tyrrhenian coast.
Paola sits on the Tyrrhenian coast below the western slope of the Sila, its old town on the hill and its marina and station below.
It is the birthplace of San Francesco di Paola , patron of Calabria and of Italian seafarers — and one of the very few devotions in this collection that genuinely belongs to a whole region rather than a single town.
The District
Paola district
Paola was one of the four Bourbon districts of Calabria Citeriore. District-level records for much of the Tyrrhenian strip can therefore appear under Paola even when the family lived in another comune.
The Landmark
Santuario di San Francesco
The Santuario di San Francesco di Paola is the region's major pilgrimage site and mother house of the Minim order. A family member who entered the order may also appear in its own separate religious archive.
Did you know?
PAOLA IS A DISTRICT AS WELL
The saint alone cannot locate a family
District-level records for much of the Tyrrhenian coast may be filed under Paola, but devotion to San Francesco is too widespread to prove Paolano origin. Civil records also follow Cosenza province's split between its main archive and Castrovillari Section.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Local speech may include diverse Calabrian varieties, without naming a narrower Paolano form.
A saint for all Calabria
Francesco , born at Paola in 1416 , withdrew as a young man to a cave above the town and drew followers; the order he founded became the Minims , whose rule was among the most austere in the Church. His reputation for miracles spread, and Louis XI of France summoned him to his deathbed at Tours, where Francesco spent his last years. He was canonised in 1519 and made patron of Calabria and later of Italian seafarers .
The sanctuary built around his hermitage above the town has been a pilgrimage destination for five centuries and remains the most visited religious site in Calabria.
The town below lived by the sea and the coast road. Under the Bourbons Paola was the seat of one of the four districts of Calabria Citeriore , administering the Tyrrhenian strip from the Cosenza mountains down to the sea.
Its modern importance is transport: Paola station is the main railway junction of the Tyrrhenian coast and the interchange for Cosenza, which is why many travellers pass through without seeing the town.
Postcards from Paola
Wear Paola
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Cosenza.
SHOP THE COLLECTION →
Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI COSENZA
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Cosenza and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE COSENZA →REGIONE CALABRIA
From the mountains to the sea, Calabria is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE CALABRIA →From the passenger index
At least 216 people who gave Paola as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
A pilgrimage above a railway junction
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Lamezia Terme International Airport.
Most people meet Paola as a railway interchange on the way to Cosenza, and never leave the station. The town above is worth the climb.
The sanctuary is the reason to come: a working pilgrimage site rather than a monument, busy with Calabrians rather than tourists, and the clearest window into the region's religious life you will find.
The old town has the usual coastal Calabrian shape — steep streets, churches, views over the sea. Scalea and south toward Amantea.
What to see
Il Santuario di San Francesco di Paola — the hermitage, the basilica and the pilgrim route.
The old town — the streets above the marina.
The feast, on 2 May — processions on land and by sea.
The marina and the coast — the Tyrrhenian shore below the town.
Cosenza and the Sila — inland, through the mountains.
Your family's parish — the record-keeping institution before 1809.
Family history
Where the records are
Related places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Paola is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →