Alliste plays an important role during the summer season, with its 7 km of rocky shoreline and crystal clear sea. Dominant, in the low-lying country, is the hill of the Serra, which reaches its maximum height in the village of Madonna dell'Alto at 86 m above the sea level.

The coat of arms of  Alliste depicts the wings of a cherub on which rests an uppercase A, initial of the name of the country. This representation refers to the origins of the town, which are linked to a legend: around the IX century, the time when pirate attacks were more intense, the inhabitants of Felline, fraction of Alliste now, abandoned their village to escape death coming from the sea and sought shelter in a place not far in the inland, considered safer. During the escape, (and here we enter into the legend ), the desperate refugees implored the help of the archangel Gabriel, and the salvation came: suddenly an angel appeared and protected the fugitives under his great wings, and brought them to a safe place. In this place they founded a new village that, as a sign of gratitude for those miraculous wings, they called it Allisti that became later Alliste. To further consecrate to memory the legendary event, the wings were also reproduced on the coat of arms as a symbol of protection and strength. So far the legend.

But it has been handed down even the existence of a previous emblem on which, an angel holding a scale symbol of justice, was represented. This illustration, still visible at the beginning of 1800, was painted on the door of the Sedile, a building used to hold meetings which no longer exists.

The historian of Racale Antonio Serio, starting from the dialect form of the name Caddiste, assumed that the name can be traced back to "Kallistos" greek superlative adjective which means "beautiful".

For  Prof. Antonio Pizzurro instead means " to live together", "together". It is in fact in two deeds of 1331 the reference to the city with the name "Alitzai." This could result from the merger of the adverb greek "alias" and the verb "zao", meaning just "living together", and that same name may have been chosen by refugees from Felline for the office wishes of its meaning.

The official entry in the history of Alliste is, however, the 4 September 1275 when King Charles I d'Anjou confirmed to barone Guglielmo Pisanello the paternal estates, including just that of Alliste. As far as the origin of the inhabitants is concerned we can only speculate, but it is indisputable that they were Greeks or that they were most of them, as well as greek was the religious rite lasted until the XVI century.

Up to 1378, the few documents mention Alliste as Casale, afterward it will be called Land, that is to say, a small village equipped with perimeter wall.

The economy was of purely agricultural traditions.

The Church dedicated to San Quentin has a considerable artistic and historical importance . It was built in 1435 and finished 20 years later. In 1872 it was rebuilt in baroque style. Within the main altar, stand out the five egg shaped paintings by Giovanni Battista Lama, dated 1735-40 and highlighting the various stages of the life of San Quentin. Kept in a shrine, nestled between a pair of fluted columns, there is a bust of the patron saint, a great work performed by Domenico Di Blasio in 1715.

[www.comune.alliste.le.it]