centro storico, collinare, agricolo, di crinale, Bisignano, Besidia (denominazione storica, epoca romana), Bisuntia (denominazione storica, dal VIII sec.)

Atika

Bisignano’s historic centre is a medieval settlement that grew at the foot of the Motta hill, where the castle of the Princes of Bisignano once stood. From this original ring-shaped core, later expansion radiated out along the crest lines of seven narrow spurs, creating the quarters: Piano, Cascinale, Cittadella, San Zaccaria, San Pietro, Giudecca, and San Simone. The steep orography constrained the building fabric until the early twentieth century, forcing it to fill any free space and climb the precipitous flanks of the central hill. The small rural houses are punctuated by the more substantial palazzi of local families, block and courtyard types in San Pietro, San Zaccaria, and elsewhere, which lend the urban fabric a particular architectural distinction. The castle, of which almost nothing remains, was originally called Cacomacio, then Castromonte; the Normans renamed it Motta around 1100. Medieval survivals include the imposing Gothic cathedral and the fifteenth-century Bishop’s Palace.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.