Zumpano

Zumpano is said to have risen on a pre-existing nucleus, but the first real inhabited settlement was made up of refugees from Cosenza, who fled their city due to the Arab invasion of Abulcasino around the year 1000. Zumpano from its earliest beginnings always represented a point of reference in case of attack by any enemy; the particular morphology of the territory on which it developed favoured an effective defence against any assailant over time. To this day, the coat of arms depicts a tower with two lions at the base, symbols of Norman strength, one facing right and the other left. According to popular tradition, the two lions represent the hamlets of Motta and Rovella, defending the centre depicted by the tower. In the upper part is depicted, in the form of a crown, a city wall that indicates Zumpano's belonging to the defensive network of towers and castles built by the Normans. Also worth a visit is the Museum of Sacred Art of Zumpano, established in 2008, which houses the so-called Treasure of St George: valuable sacred silverware and wooden furnishings and liturgical vestments. Among the works on display are Bartolomeo Vivarini's Triptych depicting the Madonna and Child between Saints George and Benedict and a wooden pulpit from the mid-17th century.