The patroness of Laurenzana is Our Lady of Mount Carmel, celebrated on 16 July.
The town grew around two poles, the mother church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the castle, whose earliest documentary sources date from the Norman period; in the Angevin era the settlement was for the first time enclosed within walls fitted with round, battered towers, and in 1268 its inhabitants took part in the Ghibelline revolt. A violent earthquake, which required the demolition of unsafe buildings, also brought down the bell tower of the church of the Carmine and the towers of the feudal castle, from whose rubble an old clock was recovered; the town's religious architectural heritage suffered severe damage, and the only church to remain unscathed was that of San Giorgio. The mother church required major restoration work, while its bell tower half collapsed and the chapel of the Loreto was completely destroyed.
