PIAZZA DELLE TRE CHIESE

Near the Duomo, this square was opened on the site of the garden of a monastery that has now disappeared. The three religious buildings that delimit it are among the 17 churches that still exist in the town, the last survivors of a time when Gerace was known as the "city of a hundred churches".

One of the most important Franciscan structures in southern Italy, the Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi was founded in the late 13th century. It opens with an elegant Gothic portal with archivolt carved with orientalist motifs. The single nave interior is sober and uncluttered. The choir, however, has a high altar and a triumphal arch with polychrome marble inlays in the Baroque style, as well as a 14th century sarcophagus. After the departure of the Franciscans in 1806, the building was used in turn as a prison, an oil mill and a home. Today it has been restored and desecrated and hosts various cultural events.

The Chiesa di San Giovanni Crisostomo, also called San Giovanello, is a small and beautiful 11th century church and a rare example of Byzantine architecture. It was the church of a female monastery, destroyed by the earthquakes and suppressed. The interior, simple with a small apse, contains traces of frescoes which seem to indicate that the building was richly decorated. Orthodox celebrations are still held here today.

The Chiesa del Sacro Cuore di Gesù was rebuilt in 1851, but still has its original majolica pavement.