The patron saint of Lauria is Blessed Domenico Lentini, a local priest, celebrated on 25 February: since 25 February 2000 he has been recognised as patron of the whole religious community of the town, precisely on the anniversary of his death in 1828. In the Cafaro quarter stand his restored birth house, holding his relics, and a chapel dedicated to him; the hermitage of Sant'Elia and of Blessed Domenico Lentini holds 19th-century paintings and sacred objects.
The town is divided into two large districts, separated by the ancient Ravita quarter: the upper one, traditionally called the Castello, and the lower one, called the Borgo, each with its own patron saint. The upper district celebrates Saint Nicholas of Bari on 9 May, to whom the mother church is dedicated, its bell tower built on a pre-existing medieval tower; the lower district instead celebrates Saint James the Greater Apostle on 25 July, to whom the district's parish church is dedicated, so named since the 15th century and known for a fine wooden choir.
Between 7 and 9 August 1806 the town was the scene of the so-called Massacre of Lauria: many inhabitants were brutally slaughtered by Napoleonic soldiers led by General Masséna, guilty of having supported the Bourbon cause; the old church of the Basilian monks on Colle Armo, destroyed on that occasion, was later rebuilt out of devotion to the Assumed Virgin.
