Famous since the fifteenth century, the Siciliani family won renown through many of its members: prelates, lawyers, soldiers and men of letters.

Among the others, in recent times, Luigi Siciliani, was a poet and a refined lover of ancient languages. An elegant translator of classical eroticism, he also kept up a confidential correspondence with some of the most celebrated poets of those years—Pascoli and D'Annunzio.

In the chronicles of the period it is said that "... on the ground called Dopo San Francesco, in the country of Cirò, Domenico from Paola founded a monastery in 1578; all around vineyards and olive groves were planted... This convent was suppressed on 30 October 1770 by a decree of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, upon which, the goods of the monastery included the factories were put up for auction, and on July 14, 1777 were awarded to Don Benedetto Siciliani..."

From those vineyards, the wines from the Fattoria San Francesco are still produced, and the monastery, today called Casale San Francesco, is the centre of the agricultural activity and residence of the Siciliani family.