The village was called Terra Sancti Felicis, after the San Felice to whom the parish of the time was devoted, and only later did it become San Fili. From 1445 to 1529 it was part of the county of Rende, which belonged to the Adorno doges of Genoa; in 1532 Rende, and with it San Fili, was raised to a marquisate and granted to Ferrante de Alarcón. The village spreads over three hills, under monte Luta, on the eastern side of the coastal range.
San Fili is known as the village of the magare, and the word misleads: the magare were not sorceresses but women we would now call herbalists, who joined to their herbs and natural remedies a store of popular wisdom and a strong religious sense. In August the village holds a festival for them, the Notti delle magare. The other thing that says a great deal is emigration: people of San Fili left for Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, and the Canadian community of their descendants alone numbers six thousand, more than twice the people living in the village today.
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📅 Every year, on 12 October
On 12 October San Fili celebrates Saint Francis of Paola, one of its two patrons; the other patron is Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July), and in August the town hosts "Notti delle magare".
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside San Fili, but an easy day trip away.
