Discover Parenti: History, Woodland Paths and Local Festivals

Parenti combines a historic town center, a rural character and local events. In the historic center, narrow concrete lanes known as “vinelle” lead to small squares and stairways. They connect the lower and upper parts of the town.

Historic Center and Town Development

The present-day historic center of Parenti is located where the new “presidi” began to form. Baron Luigi Ricciulli had his palace built in the highest part of the town. The town center therefore combines different spatial levels with the early development of Parenti.

Church, Monument and Palazzo Bruni

One of the religious landmarks is the Parrocchia della Madonna del Carmine. The earliest surviving records of the church date from 1752. Its central altar is dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine.

The Monumento ai caduti di Parenti was inaugurated in Piazza Chiesa on November 11, 1924. Palazzo Bruni is also part of the town’s historical development: The Bruni family donated the building to the municipality in 1936. It initially housed the elementary school and the municipal administration offices, and later became the municipal library. The sequence of uses thus extends from school and administration to the later library.

The Museo delle arti e mestieri contadini preserves old tools once used by the grandparents of the local population. The historical objects represent a clearly defined period in the past.

Woodland Paths and Rural Character

Near Bocca di Piazza, woodland paths run among centuries-old fir and beech trees. The paths belong to a landscape area outside the narrow “vinelle” of the historic center. The wooded paths and the lanes in the town center thus represent two different sides of Parenti.

Today, the districts of Parenti are characterized by an economy that is almost entirely agricultural, with potato cultivation. The Sagra della Patata di Bocca di Piazza is a festival centered on potato cultivation in the district of Parenti.

Festivals, Potato Dishes and Horse Gatherings

The Sagra della Patata di Bocca di Piazza takes place every year on the last Sunday in August in the district of Parenti. Typical potato dishes prepared by local residents are served there. The Sagra also includes a horse gathering with riding games, skill competitions and horse parades.

The Gara del Carro is a race with wooden carts and ball bearings that originated in Parenti in 1992. It takes place every year on the third Sunday in September together with the Santa Liberata festival. The two events therefore take place on different Sundays in consecutive months: The Sagra belongs to August, while the Gara belongs to September.

Parenti thus brings historic buildings, narrow town lanes, woodland paths, potato cultivation and recurring festivals together within a clearly defined local context. The specific dates and event components remain distinct from one another.

Other places in Calabria: Montegiordano, Cirella, Villapiana Lido, Cantinella, Paola, Celico, Rose and Villapiana.

More about Cosenza.