Melfi (Mèlfe in the Lucanian dialect) is an Italian town of 17 543 inhabitants in the province of Potenza in Basilicata. Consisting of a historic center with a medieval appearance overall, the city has become an important industrial center and is home to a large number of businesses. The industrial center of San Nicola di Melfi, built in the early nineties, houses the SATA car factory.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Designed by Noslo di Remerio, it
began to be built in 1076 at the behest of Robert Guiscard, although
other sources attest to the start date in 1153, under the order of
William I of Sicily. Very little remains of its Norman past due to
earthquakes and repeated restorations which have made its current
appearance purely baroque, with the exception of the bell tower, built
in 1153 by order of Roger II, which still retains a Norman Romanesque
style. The interior has a Latin cross plan and three naves, surmounted
by a gilded coffered ceiling and an eight-sided pyramid-shaped dome.
Church of Sant'Antonio
The construction took place in 1423 and
the restorations after 1851. It was seriously damaged by the army of
Odet de Foix in 1528, during the siege of Melfi and resisted the
earthquakes of 1731 and 1752, but the one of 1851 seriously damaged it.
From the 17th to the 18th century, the church was dedicated to
Sant'Antonio. Of Romanesque and Gothic style, it preserves frescoes of
the time, a wooden statue of Saint Anthony with Child painted in gold
and a painting by Carlo Sellitto depicting The Souls of Purgatory.
During the restoration works, two Gothic style arches were discovered,
where the date of reconstruction (1523) is carved on the triumphal arch,
following the earthquake of the 15th century.
Church of Sant'Anna
and Santa Maria del Suffragio
Built in 1934, the church belonging to
the Cathedral parish is known as the organizer of the Good Friday
procession, where together with the sacred images of Our Lady of Sorrows
and the Dead Jesus, little girls dressed in black parade with the
mysteries of the Passion of Jesus in their hands. This church organizes
also the procession of Sant'Anna on 26 July.
Church of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel (Carmine)
It was once part of the Carmelite Convent,
which occupied a good part of the surrounding buildings. The original
wooden door (now preserved in the Bishop's Palace) presents images that
summarize the typical example of the medieval conception of death. The
brotherhood of this church (together with that of S. Anna) takes care of
the rites of Holy Week with the performance of sad songs regarding the
tragedy of Golgotha.
Church of San Teodoro
The date of
construction is unknown although ancient, we only know that in 1040 it
was elevated to a parish by bishop Monsignor Baldovino, until 1988, when
the then bishop Monsignor Cozzi merged the church with the Cathedral. A
small wooden jar containing the relics of San Teodoro M., San Sebastiano
and San Petronilla was preserved in the building but, after the 1980
earthquake, this testimony was lost. There is a medium-sized wooden
crucifix and a statue of the "Desolate Madonna".
Church of San
Lorenzo
Dating back to 1120, at that time belonging to the Abbey of
Sant'Ippolito di Monticchio Laghi, it is probably the oldest building in
Melfi, and consists of an octagonal baptistery flanked by a mezzanine
bell tower.
Rock church of Santa Margherita
Entirely dug into
the tuff, it dates back to 1200. It was discovered by Gian Battista
Guarini. The frescoes represent subjects such as St. Margaret (above the
main altar), the archangel Michael, the Madonna and Child, St. John the
Baptist and Christ on the Throne. Noteworthy is a representation of the
motif of Frederick II coming across three skeletons, a widespread
memento mori scheme. Among the frescoes appear three secular figures
dressed as falconers, who, for the Neapolitan critic Pasquale Capaldo,
are the main members of the Swabian imperial family: Frederick II, his
wife Isabella of England and the emperor's son, Conrad IV. The Melfi
representation of the meeting of the three dead and the three living is
particularly notable, not only for the hypothesis that it is the
imperial family who depicts the living, but also because it could be the
oldest pictorial representation of the theme that has come down to us.
primacy disputed with the fresco of the same iconographic subject
preserved in the Cathedral of Atri, albeit with some variations within
the general scheme.
Rock church of the Madonna delle Spinelle: discovered in 1845
following a landslide, only the terminal chapel remains (remains of the
nave were leveled in the seventies to create a square in front) of a
hexagonal plan with six semi-columns supporting a cornice. In the
medieval era it was a part of the Basilica of Santo Stefano, an early
Christian construction with multiple naves and attached chapels.
According to some legends, partly confirmed, there was a long
underground tunnel that connected the complex with the Castle. It was
the site of various meetings and conferences and it is claimed that the
Norman soldiers led by Bohemond set off from this structure for the
first Crusade to the Holy Land.
Rock church of Santa Lucia: Located
in the Giaconelli district, halfway between Melfi and Rapolla, it
consists of a single room with a barrel vault. The frescoes in the
crypt, dating back to the 13th century and restored by the painter prof.
Tullio Brisi, present a purely Byzantine style and illustrate the
stories of the saint. Furthermore there is a depiction of the "Madonna
with Child" sitting on a mosaic throne, a typical Byzantine work.
Rock Church of the Holy Spirit: Entirely dug into the rock, it is
located about 900 meters above sea level in the woods of Mount Vulture.
It preserves a statue of the Madonna, which is carried through the
streets of the city during the Pentecost festival in memory of the
battle between the French and the Spanish in Melfi.
Other
churches
Former Church of Santa Maria la Nova: On the noble "Corso
Garibaldi" the façade of the former church of "Santa Maria la Nova"
makes a beautiful presence, built around the 12th century under the
dominion of the Lombards, which preserves a beautiful segmental arch
portal characterized by geometric motifs and jagged embossed engravings.
The plan originally had three naves; the two lateral ones were separated
and transformed for civil use, while the bell tower probably suffered
collapses and was demolished.
Church of Santa Maria ad Nives: It was
built in 1570 by the Albanian Giorgino Lapazzaia, who arrived in Melfi
in 1534. Linked to the arbëreshë rite, two ancient traditions are
celebrated in it; that of the Holy Spirit and that of the breads.
Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Convent: Formerly the seat
of the Capuchins, located on the Tabor hill. It was built in the 13th
century and was initially a novitiate house before being used, from
1696, as a theological and philosophical study.
Piazza Duomo: also called Largo Marconi, is the area where the
Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace are located (Melfi).
Piazza Umberto
I: also called the square (la chiazz), has represented the city agora
since the 11th century, a time in which it was the fulcrum of the
medieval village. The alleys, alleys and steps of the square still
retain reliefs, wells, portals and stone decorations. It is an
auditorium par excellence to be presented as a case study.
Corso
Garibaldi: also called Strada del Vescovado, since 1500 it has been the
main artery of the city and is the site of various noble palaces.
Chiuchiari district: it was founded in 1534 by Albanian immigrants led
by Captain Kiukieri (from whom the name comes). It was abandoned by them
in 1597 to move to nearby Barile.
via Vittorio Emanuele: another
historical artery of Melfi, it is characterized by historical evidence
such as the stone portal of Rapolla (1527) and the portal belonging to
the hospital managed by the Franciscan community, dated 1664.
Piazza
Abele Mancini: also known as the market square, because it was the place
outside the walls where the market was held in ancient times. It was the
subject of a redevelopment completed in 2006, one of the rare cases in
Italy in which the winning project of an ideas competition was realised.
It has a pedestrian path that connects the medieval village to the Town
Hall, enlivened by a fountain with benches.
Bagno district: in the
past known as the village, it is located outside the walls that surround
the city and was home to the productive activities favored by the
passage of the Melpes river.
Court Palace: Built in the 16th century, the building was the seat of
the town hall for over a century; currently hosts the proloco. Inside
there is a bust of Frederick II, donated to the city of Melfi by the
Federal Republic of Germany. In 1922 the Municipality of Melfi walled up
a marble plaque with the following epigraph in the atrium of the
Municipal Palace:
«IN THIS ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE KINGDOM OF PUGLIA /
ILLUSTRUS FOR WEAPONS, INDUSTRY AND FREQUENCY OF THE PEOPLE / DEAR TO
FREDERICK II OF SWEVIA / ITALIAN BY BIRTH A GENIUS WITH AN ARRED FIGHT /
WHO RENEWED ITS BULKARDS AND CITY / THE CONSTITUTIONS WERE PROMULGATED
IN MCCXXXI / FIRST FOUNDATION OF THE LIBERAL STATE / LATER PROPHESIZED
BY DANTE / AND FIRST OUTLINES OF THE LAW OF PEOPLE / IN THE SIXTH
CENTENARY OF THE DIVINE POET / PEOPLE AND MUNICIPALITY CELEBRATED THEIR
MEMORIES / THE TRIUMPH OF LAW AND THE THOUGHT OF THE VATE / REUNITING
THEM IN A SINGLE MEMORY / AND IN THE NAMES OF THE TWO GREAT SPIRITS /
ALREADY UNITED IN THE POEM IN THE Feast AND IN vulgar speech"
Palazzo del Vescovado: Originally a Norman building from the 11th
century, over time it underwent various modifications, due to
earthquakes, until reaching a baroque style in the 18th century. Inside
there is an art gallery where paintings by Francesco da Tolentino and
Cristiano Danona are exhibited. It is home to the Diocesan Museum and
the bishop's library, which preserves documents and various
sixteenth-century documents.
Palazzo Araneo: It has a Renaissance
style façade, but the remaining part of the structure is believed to
date back to the Middle Ages. Once used as a court, it overlooks a
public garden in which you can admire two monuments, with bronze busts,
of the sen. Floriano Del Zio and the Hon. Arduino Severini. The palace
was once owned by the rich Mandina family.
Palazzo Severini: It dates
back to the 16th century and was a Carmelite convent. It then became the
property of Decio Severini, writer and university professor at the
universities of Pisa and Rome, as well as general director of irrigation
in Argentina and designer of major works in Italy and Egypt. The
building currently houses an insurance agency.
Palazzo Sibilla:
Building erected in the 16th century, it was the birthplace of General
Ascanio Sibilla, decorated with a medal for military valor and
meritorious for the rescue and humanitarian aid to the Messina
earthquake victims, as well as mayor of Melfi between 1952 and 1956.
Palazzo Donadoni: Building that belonged to the family of the same name,
originally from Bergamo. Geromino Donadoni, who lived in the first half
of the 16th century, exercised the power of deputy governor there. It is
home to the civic museum and is the site of various cultural
exhibitions.
Other buildings: Palazzo Mandini has a neoclassical
style façade, under which there is an original nucleus from the
sixteenth century; Palazzo Pierro, formerly a Somaschi convent, dating
back to the 17th century; Palazzo Pastore 20th century; Palazzo Tisbi
15th century; Palazzo Aquilecchia 16th century; Palazzo
Lospinoso-Severini 19th century.
Bath Fountain: Built in 1928, it was the city's wash house and source
of water supplies for homes without running water.
Fontana del
Bagnitello: In past times it was a refreshment center for the traveller,
for the pilgrim and for the farmer with his animals, it was renovated in
2003 with the contribution of the Lucani association in Umbria.
Holy
Water Fountain: Built in the 20th century, located in the Foggiano
hamlet.
Castle
Built by the Normans, it is one of the best known in Basilicata and one of the most representative medieval castles in the south. Robert Guiscard confined his first wife Alberada there, repudiated to marry Sichelgaita of Salerno. Frederick II promulgated the Constitutions of Melfi here. With the advent of the Angevins, the castle underwent radical restorations and in 1284 was named the official residence of the wife of Charles II of Anjou, Mary of Hungary. The Aragonese entrusted the castle first to the Caracciolo family and then to Prince Andrea Doria, whose descendants maintained it until 1950.
The historic center of Melfi is entirely surrounded by turreted walls built mostly by the Normans which extend for over four kilometers. The circuit follows the edge of the plateau on which the city was built, surrounded on all sides by slopes, at times by real precipices. The work constitutes a rare example of fortification in southern Italy. The construction phases of the city walls belong to the Byzantine, Norman, Swabian and Aragonese periods. The last to make structural changes were Niccolò Acciaiuoli in the fourteenth century and Sergianni II Giovanni Caracciolo, 2nd Duke of Melfi, in the fifteenth century, to which the current arrangement dates back, to defend the city from enemy artillery. Sieges and earthquakes have made continuous restoration necessary and the 1930 earthquake seriously compromised the structure.
Porta Venosina: It is one of the six city gates located in the city
walls, although three of these (Porta del Bagno, Porta Sant'Antolino and
Porta Troiana), due to earthquakes and looting, no longer exist. Dating
back to the Swabian era, it is the only one still in good condition and
was built on the ancient route towards Venosa and the Via Appia. To the
right of the entrance you can see the coat of arms of Melfi and, to the
left, that of the Caracciolo family who restored the walls at the end of
the fifteenth century. Frederick II had a plaque placed there praising
the glory and grandeur of the city,[48] replaced later by Sergianni II
Giovanni Caracciolo, 2nd Duke of Melfi, with the one still visible
today, although illegible. The pointed arch is of Swabian origin, while
the cylindrical tower was added in the fifteenth century by Caracciolo.
Porta del Bagno: Also called Porta Bagni or Porta Balnea or Porta di
Santa Maria, it was located at the beginning of via Bagno near the
Spennacchio parapharmacy. Of this access, which was the main one, no
evidence remains. The Porta Bagno was demolished without clear reasons
in 1851 after the earthquake even though it had not suffered any damage.
Porta Troiana: It was built in the 15th century at the behest of Troiano
Caracciolo, 1st Duke of Melfi, from whom it took its name. Only the
ruins of this work remain.
Porta Calcinaia: It was the closest gate
to the castle. It led from the artisan area, where lime and clay was
produced (hence the name), to the historic center and to the current Via
Normanni, which still leads to the Castle. Having fallen in the 1930
earthquake, it was finally rebuilt in March 2021 thanks to evidence from
the late nineteenth/early twentieth century.
Porta Sant'Antolino: It
is located at the eastern end of the street of the same name, it is
currently present but poorly preserved, forgotten by everyone, it has
been walled up but the arch is still visible, although it is covered
with shrubs and weeds.
Melfi is located in the far north of Basilicata, at
the base of Monte Vulture, an inactive volcano from the
protohistoric era, on the border with Puglia (province of Foggia)
and Campania (province of Avellino), a border marked by the Ofanto
river. The purely hilly municipal area extends over an area of
206.25 km², the second largest municipality in the province.
Seismic classification: zone 1 (high-catastrophic seismicity),
PCM Ordinance n. 3274 of 20/03/2003
From an inland
area, which is only partially affected by the temperate action of
the sea, and with an altitude of just over 500 meters, Melfi finds
itself having a cool temperate climate, with irregular rains and
mostly present in the autumn and winter seasons. Winters are
relatively cold with possible snowfalls. Summers are quite hot with
a dry climate. According to the average data for the thirty years
1961-1990, the average temperature of the coldest month, January, is
+5.6 ° C, while that of the hottest month, August, is +23.6 ° C.
Origins of the name
The origins of the name of Melfi would
derive from the small river Melpes, quoted by the Latin writer and
naturalist Pliny the Elder, who to be honest places it near Capo
Palinuro, in turn a hundred thousand steps away from Reggio
Calabria. In Naturalis historia we read: «… ... Cape Palinuro,
across the bay from which the Royal Pillar 100 m. p. - next to the
river ... Melphes.… ».
Origins
The foundation of Melfi (although inhabited from
remote times) is of unknown date and there are various conflicting
opinions. Giovanni Pontano and Leandro Alberti claimed that the
founders were Greek; The Lombard monk Erchemperto in his works
attributed the birth of Melfi to some families of the Roman Empire,
who initially decided to move to the Byzantium rebuilt by
Constantine the Great. But, due to a violent storm near the
Schiavonia, they would have stopped in Ragusa (Croatia), from where
they were driven out, so they would finally return to the Italian
coasts and, settling in the Vulture area, they would have founded
Melfi. However, due to the insecurity from the hordes of barbarians
and their raids, they continued on their pilgrimage, and founded
Amalfi (some believe that the name of the city of Campania derives
from the name of Melfi).
There is another theory that dates
its foundation in the early 11th century, by the Byzantine general
Basilio Boioannes (catapano of Italy from 1017 to 1027), since there
is no documentary evidence of the existence of the city in previous
times. Nor does it appear, with the nearby Rapolla and Venosa, in
the list of Daunian cities named by Pliny the Elder in 70 AD. about.
From antiquity to the Normans
The first inhabited centers,
located in the Leonessa hamlet and the remains of a mammoth
necropolis found in the locality of Toppo d'Avuzzo in Rapolla,
attest that the Melfese area was inhabited since the Neolithic
times; Dauni and Lucani were among the first civilizations to settle
in its territory. In Roman times, the town was in the background
compared to other neighboring towns such as Venusia (the current
Venosa), since the latter, being, together with Strapellum (the
current Rapolla), in a strategic point of the Via Appia , was an
important center of trade.
With the fall of the Roman Empire,
the area, occupied by the Byzantines and then by the Lombards, began
to acquire greater importance, but it was with the advent of the
Normans that it began to take on a fundamental role. In 1042,
Guglielmo Braccio di Ferro and the other members of the Altavilla
family obtained official recognition of the conquest of the city
from the Lombard duke Guaimario IV of Salerno, becoming his vassals
in exchange, and left Melfi to put the entire south under their
dominion. of Italy.
In Melfi, the seat of the county of
Puglia, five councils were held, organized by five different Popes
between 1059 and 1137. In the first council of 1059, Pope Nicholas
II recognized the possessions conquered by the Normans and appointed
Roberto il Guiscardo duke of Puglia and Calabria, who became a
vassal of the Church. The city was passing through a shining moment
in its history, and in that circumstance it became the capital of
the Duchy of Puglia and Calabria in 1059.
Melfi, despite soon
having to surrender the title of capital to Salerno, continued to be
a rather important center of the Norman Empire. The city was the
place of organization of other synods. Pope Alexander II from 1
August 1067 presided over the council of Melfi II; he received the
Lombard prince of Salerno, Gisulfo II, and the brothers Roberto il
Guiscardo and Ruggero Altavilla. During the council of Melfi III, in
1089, Pope Urban II called the first Crusade in the Holy Land, then
Pasquale II in 1101 called the council of Melfi IV and finally
Innocent II in 1137 celebrated the council of Melfi V, the last of
the series.
From the Swabians to the Aragonese
The Normans
were replaced by the Swabians of Frederick II Hohenstaufen, who
brought Melfi and its castle to new splendor. The emperor chose the
city as his summer residence and here (but also in the localities of
Lagopesole, Palazzo San Gervasio and, according to some sources,
also Monticchio) he spent his moments of leisure, since he preferred
the forests of Monte Vulture to practice falconry (falconry), his
favorite hobby.
The Swabian sovereign promulgated the
Constitutions of Melfi (or Constitutiones Augustales) from the
castle, a unique code of laws for the entire kingdom of Sicily, a
fundamental work in the history of law, whose characteristics are
considered "modern" by many historians. The Swabians were succeeded
by the Angevins, and for Melfi the decline began, although Charles
II of Anjou had the castle renovated and massively enlarged. The
Angevins were ousted by the Aragonese, who became the new rulers of
Melfi.
Just over two centuries later, when Melfi had long been under
Spanish rule, the French army led by Pietro Navarro and Odet de Foix
caused one of the most gruesome events in the history of the city.
In fact, between 22 and 23 March 1528, the so-called siege of Melfi
took place, which went down in history as "The Bloody Easter", where
the city was sacked, burned and a large part of the population was
exterminated, whose approximate figures are around between 3,000 and
over 4,000 people killed. The French offensive was uprooted by the
King of Spain Charles V, who reconquered Melfi in 1531, but the
city, now reduced to rubble, was abandoned for months. With the
issuance of two edicts by the sovereign, Melfi was repopulated by
people from the neighboring towns and by a colony of Albanians;
moreover it was conferred the title of "most faithful" and exempted
from paying taxes for 12 years.
From the sixteenth century to
today
In a period tormented by the struggle between the Angevins
and the Aragonese, the description of the fortified lands ready to
undergo sieges appears interesting. From 1531 the city was governed
by the Doria family of Genoa, under the sovereignty of the Spanish
royal dynasties of the Habsburgs and the Bourbons; they were
centuries of decline during which various social uprisings took
place, such as in 1728 against the flour gabelle and in 1831 for the
quotation of state-owned lands. On September 10, 1656, an outbreak
of plague spread, causing over 500 deaths in one semester. In 1742,
during the reign of Charles of Bourbon, the influential jurist
Bernardo Tanucci, after the British naval expedition against Naples
of that year, having noted the vulnerability of the Neapolitan city
to attacks from the sea, proposed in vain to move the capital of the
kingdom Melfi.
Proclaimed the ephemeral Neapolitan Republic
(1799), the tree of liberty was planted in Melfi and the city was
controlled by the Jacobins until the arrival of Cardinal Ruffo's
Sanfedist army on May 29 of the same year. Ruffo succeeded in
preventing the sacking of the city, even if numerous prisoners
perished in the Melfitan prisons, it is not known whether due to
illness or mistreatment.
A violent earthquake destroyed a
large part of the town in 1851, killing a large number of people.
Shortly after the unification of Italy, the city, involved in
banditry, suffered the occupation of the army of Carmine Crocco in
April 1861, where the brigands Domenico "Malacarne" Zappella and
Michele Schirò made themselves known. Sacked the city, Crocco
dismissed the liberal authorities and proclaimed a government in the
name of Francesco II. The occupation of the city aroused concern on
the part of the Italian kingdom, so much so that Giuseppe Garibaldi
mentioned the "provisional government in Melfi" during a
parliamentary discussion. Later the city was the scene of death
sentences for the brigands Giuseppe Schiavone, Giuseppe Petrelli and
Aniello Rendina, executed on November 28, 1864 by the Savoy
Bersaglieri.
On 19 July 1868, the city was the birthplace of
Francesco Saverio Nitti, prime minister and minister, as well as one
of the major supporters of southernism, together with Giustino
Fortunato. In the fascist era, Melfi, like other places in
Basilicata, was a land of confinement and among the characters
forced to stay there were anti-fascists such as Manlio Rossi-Doria,
Franco Venturi, Ada Rossi, Eugenio Colorni and his wife Ursula
Hirschmann.
The city was devastated by the Vulture earthquake
in 1930, which made Melfi the most damaged town in the area, and
suffered strong migratory flows towards northern Italy and northern
Europe. During the Second World War it was bombed by the allied
fleets, to be precise on 26 September 1943, in the bombing by the
12th NATBF and DAF, which hit Benevento, Melfi, Foggia, Pomigliano
and Sarno; on the occasion there were numerous civilian victims. It
began to see a certain recovery at the dawn of the nineties, with
the planting of the FIAT and Barilla plants in the industrial area
of San Nicola di Melfi.
Symbols
Blazon coat of arms
"Samnite-style shield with a gold field bearing a green basilisk
with a red tongue in the center supported by the central peak of a
mountain of three green peaks with a black outline, surmounted by a
crown with golden towers and surrounded by two laurel branches and
oak tied at the bottom by a tricolor ribbon in the center "
Blazon banner
"Party "cloth in yellow and green, richly decorated
with gold embroidery and loaded with the civic coat of arms
surmounted by the inscription, convex upwards, also in gold,"Città
di Melfi""
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Designed by Noslo di Remerio, it
began to be built in 1076 at the behest of Roberto il Guiscardo,
although other sources attest the starting date in 1153, under the
order of William I of Sicily. Little remains of its Norman past due
to the earthquakes and repeated restorations that have made its
current appearance purely Baroque, with the exception of the bell
tower, built in 1153 by order of Roger II, which still retains a
Norman Romanesque style. The interior has a Latin cross plan and
three naves, surmounted by a gilded coffered ceiling and an
eight-sided pyramid-shaped dome.
Church of Sant'Antonio
The construction took place in 1423 and the restorations after 1851.
It was seriously damaged by the army of Odet de Foix in 1528, during
the siege of Melfi and withstood the earthquakes of 1731 and 1752,
but that of 1851 seriously damaged it. From the 17th to the 18th
century, the church was dedicated to Sant'Antonio. Of Romanesque and
Gothic style, it preserves frescoes of the time, a wooden statue of
Sant'Antonio with Child painted in gold and a painting by Carlo
Sellitto depicting The Souls of Purgatory. During the restoration
works, two Gothic style arches were discovered, where the
reconstruction date (1523) is carved on the triumphal arch,
following the earthquake of the 15th century.
Church of
Sant'Anna and Santa Maria del Suffragio
Built in 1934, the church
belonging to the Cathedral parish is known as the organizer of the
Good Friday procession, where together with the sacred images of Our
Lady of Sorrows and Dead Jesus, little girls dressed in black parade
holding the mysteries of the Passion of Jesus. also the procession
of Sant'Anna on 26 July.
Church of the Madonna del Carmelo
(Carmine)
It was once part of the Carmelite Convent, which
occupied a large part of the surrounding buildings. The original
wooden door (now preserved in the Palazzo del Vescovado) presents
images that summarize the typical example of the medieval concept of
death. The brotherhood of this church (together with that of S.
Anna) takes care of the rites of the Holy week with the execution of
sad songs concerning the tragedy of Golgotha.
Church of San
Teodoro
The date of construction is unknown although ancient, we
only know that in 1040 it was elevated to a parish by the bishop
Monsignor Baldovino, until the year 1988, when the then bishop Mons.
Cozzi merged the church with the Cathedral. In the building there
was a wooden jar that contained the relics of San Teodoro M., San
Sebastiano and San Petronilla but, after the earthquake of 1980,
this testimony has been lost. There is a medium-sized wooden
crucifix and a statue of the "Desolate Madonna".
Church of
San Lorenzo
Dating back to 1120, at that time belonging to the
Abbey of Sant'Ippolito di Monticchio Laghi, it is probably the
oldest building in Melfi, and consists of an octagonal baptistery
flanked by a mezzanine bell tower.
Rock church of Santa
Margherita
Entirely excavated in the tuff, it dates back to 1200.
It was discovered by Gian Battista Guarini. The frescoes represent
subjects such as St. Margaret (above the main altar), the archangel
Michael, the Madonna with Child, St. John the Baptist and Christ on
the throne. Noteworthy is a representation of the motif of Frederick
II who runs into three skeletons, a widespread memento mori scheme.
Among the frescoes there are three lay figures in falconry attire,
who, for the Neapolitan critic Pasquale Capaldo, are the main
components of the Swabian imperial family: Frederick II, his wife
Isabella of England and the emperor's son, Conrad IV. The Melfitan
representation of the meeting of the three dead and the three living
is particularly distinguished, not only for the hypothesis that it
is the imperial family who portray the living, but also because it
could be the oldest pictorial representation of the theme that has
come down to us, supremacy disputed with the fresco of the same
iconographic subject preserved in the Cathedral of Atri, albeit with
some variations within the general scheme.
Other rock
churches:
Rock church of the Madonna delle Spinelle: discovered
in 1845 following a landslide, only the final chapel remains
(remains of the nave were leveled in the seventies to create a
square in front) with a hexagonal plan with six semi-columns
supporting a cornice. In the medieval era it was a part of the
Basilica of Santo Stefano, an early Christian construction with
several naves and attached chapels. According to some legends,
partially confirmed, there was a long underground tunnel that
connected the complex with the Castle. It was the site of various
meetings and congresses and it is claimed that the Norman soldiers
headed by Bohemond left from this structure for the first Crusade in
the Holy Land.
Rock Church of Santa Lucia: Located in the Giaconelli district,
halfway between Melfi and Rapolla, it consists of a single room with
a barrel vault. The frescoes in the crypt, dating back to the 13th
century and restored by the painter prof. Tullio Brisi, have a
purely Byzantine style and illustrate the stories of the saint.
There is also a representation of the "Madonna with Child" sitting
on a mosaic throne, a typical Byzantine work.
Rock Church of the
Holy Spirit: Entirely carved into the rock, it is located about 900
meters high in the woods of Monte Vulture. Preserve a statue of the
Madonna, which is carried through the streets of the city during the
feast of Pentecost in memory of the battle between the French and
the Spanish in Melfi.
Other churches
Former Church of
Santa Maria la Nova: On the noble "Corso Garibaldi" the façade of
the former church of "Santa Maria la Nova", built around the twelfth
century under the dominion of the Lombards, has a beautiful
presence. characterized by geometric motifs and jagged embossed
engravings. The plan originally had three naves; the two lateral
ones have been separated and transformed for civil use, while the
bell tower has probably collapsed and was demolished.
Church of
Santa Maria ad Nives: It was built in 1570 by the Albanian Giorgino
Lapazzaia, who arrived in Melfi in 1534. Linked to the Arbëreshë
rite, two ancient traditions are celebrated in it; that of the Holy
Spirit and that of panedduzze.
Church of the Transfiguration of
Our Lord and Convent: Formerly the seat of the Capuchins, located on
the Tabor hill. It was built in the 13th century and at the
beginning it was a novitiate house and then, from 1696, it was used
as a theological and philosophical study.
Squares and districts
Piazza Duomo: also called Largo Marconi, is
the area where the Cathedral and the Palazzo del Vescovado (Melfi)
are located. In the period of October it gives rise to the Sagra
della Varola, a festival dedicated to the famous chestnut of Melfi,
the "marroncino".
piazza Umberto I: also called the square (the
chiazz), it represents the town agora from the 11th century, when it
was the fulcrum of the medieval village. The alleys, alleys and
steps of the square still retain reliefs, wells, portals and stone
decorations. It is a cavea par excellence to be presented as a case
study.
Corso Garibaldi: also called the road of the bishopric,
since 1500 it has been the main artery of the city and is the site
of various noble palaces.
Chiuchiari district: it was founded in
1534 by Albanian immigrants headed by Capitan Kiukieri (hence the
name). It was abandoned by them in 1597 to move to nearby Barile.
via Vittorio Emanuele: another historical artery of Melfi, it is
characterized by historical testimonies such as the stone portal of
Rapolla (1527) and the portal belonging to the hospital managed by
the Franciscan community, dated 1664.
piazza Abele Mancini: also
called market square, because it was the place outside the walls
where the market was held in ancient times. It underwent a
redevelopment completed in 2006, one of the rare cases in Italy in
which the winning project of an ideas competition was realized. It
has a pedestrian path that connects the medieval village to the Town
Hall, enlivened by a fountain with benches.
Bagno district: in
the past known as the village, it is located outside the walls that
surround the city and was the seat of the productive activities
favored by the passage of the Melpes river.
Palazzo della Corte: Built in the 16th century, the building was the seat of the town hall for over a century; it currently hosts the proloco. Inside there is a bust of Frederick II, donated to the city of Melfi by the German Federal Republic. In 1922 the Municipality of Melfi walled up a marble plaque with the following inscription in the atrium of the Town Hall:
"IN QUESTA ANTICA CAPITALE DEL REAME DI PUGLIA / ILLUSTRE PER ARMI INDUSTRIA E FREQUENZA DI POPOLO / CARA A FEDERICO II DI SVEVIA / ITALIANO PER NASCITA GENIO ARDORE DI LOTTE / CHE NE RINNOVÒ I BALUARDI E LA CINTA / FURONO NEL MCCXXXI PROMULGATE LE COSTITUZIONI / PRIMO FONDAMENTO DELLO STATO LIBERALE / PROFETIZZATO POI DA DANTE / E PRIMI LINEAMENTI DEL DIRITTO DELLE GENTI / NEL SESTO CENTENARIO DEL DIVIN POETA / POPOLO E COMUNE CELEBRARONO LE LORO MEMORIE / IL TRIONFO DEL DIRITTO E IL PENSIERO DEL VATE / RICONGIUNGENDOLI IN UN SOLO RICORDO / E NEI NOMI DEI DUE GRANDI SPIRITI / UNITI GIÀ NEL POEMA NEL CONVIVIO E NEL VOLGARE ELOQUIO"
IN THIS ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE KINGDOM OF PUGLIA / ILLUSTER FOR ARMS INDUSTRY AND FREQUENCY OF PEOPLE / CARA TO FEDERIC II OF SWEDEN / ITALIAN FOR BIRTH GENIUS ARDORE DI LOTTE / WHO RENEWED THE BALUARDS AND THE CINTA / WERE IN THE MCCXXXI PROMITUTIONS FOUNDATION OF THE LIBERAL STATE / PROPHETIZED THEN BY DANTE / AND THE FIRST LINES OF THE LAW OF PEOPLE / IN THE SIXTH CENTENARY OF THE DIVINE POET / PEOPLE AND COMMON CELEBRATED THEIR MEMORIES / THE TRIUMPH OF LAW AND THE THOUGHT OF THE VATE / RECONNECTING THEM IN A IN THE NAMES OF THE TWO GREAT SPIRITS / ALREADY UNITED IN THE POEM IN THE COVIVAL AND COMMON ELOQUIO
Palazzo del Vescovado: Originally a Norman building of the
eleventh century, over time it underwent various changes, due to
earthquakes, until it reached a Baroque style in the eighteenth
century. Inside there is a picture gallery where paintings by
Francesco da Tolentino and Cristiano Danona are exhibited. It is the
seat of the Diocesan Museum and the Episcopal library, which
preserves documents and several XVI century.
Palazzo Araneo: It
has a Renaissance style facade, but the rest of the structure is
believed to date back to the Middle Ages. Once used as a court, it
overlooks a public garden where you can admire two monuments, with
bronze busts, of the sen. Floriano Del Zio and the Hon. Arduino
Severini. The palace was once owned by the wealthy Mandina family.
Palazzo Severini: It dates back to the sixteenth century and was a
convent of the Carmelites. It then became the property of Decio
Severini, writer and university professor at the universities of
Pisa and Rome, as well as general manager of irrigation in Argentina
and designer of major works in Italy and Egypt. The building is
currently the headquarters of an insurance agency.
Palazzo
Sibilla: Building erected in the 16th century, it was the birthplace
of General Ascanio Sibilla, decorated with a medal for military
valor and deserving of relief and humanitarian aid to the Messina
earthquake victims, as well as the mayor of Melfi between 1952 and
1956.
Palazzo Donadoni: Building that belonged to the homonymous
family, originally from Bergamo. Geromino Donadoni, who lived in the
first half of the 16th century, exercised the power of deputy
governor there. It houses the civic museum and is the site of
various cultural exhibitions.
Other palaces: Palazzo Mandini has
a neoclassical façade, under which there is an original nucleus of
the sixteenth century; Palazzo Pierro formerly a convent of the
Somaschi, belonging to the seventeenth century; Palazzo Pastore XX
century; Palazzo Tisbi XV century; Aquilecchia Palace XVI century;
Palazzo Lospinoso-Severini XIX century.
Fountains
Fontana
del Bagno: Built in 1928, it was the city's wash house and source
for water supplies for houses without running water.
Fontana del
Bagnitello: In the past it was a refreshment center for the
wayfarer, for the pilgrim and for the farmer with his animals, it
was renovated in 2003 with the contribution of the Lucani
association in Umbria.
Acqua Santa Fountain: Built in the
twentieth century, located in the hamlet of Foggiano.
Castle of
Melfi
Built by the Normans, it is one of the best known
in Basilicata and one of the most representative medieval castles in
the south. Roberto il Guiscardo confined there his first wife
Alberada, repudiated to marry Sichelgaita of Salerno. Frederick II
promulgated the Constitutions of Melfi here. With the advent of the
Angevins, the castle underwent radical restorations and was
appointed in 1284 the official residence of the wife of Charles II
of Anjou, Maria of Hungary. The Aragonese entrusted the castle first
to the Caracciolo family and then to Prince Andrea Doria, whose
descendants kept it until 1950.
The historic center of Melfi is entirely surrounded by turreted walls built mostly by the Normans that extend for over four kilometers. The circuit follows the edge of the plateau on which the city was built, surrounded on all sides by steep slopes, at times by real precipices. The work is a rare example of fortification in southern Italy. The construction phases of the walls belong to the Byzantine, Norman, Swabian and Aragonese periods. The last to make structural changes were Niccolò Acciaiuoli in the fourteenth century and Sergianni II Giovanni Caracciolo, 2nd Duke of Melfi, in the fifteenth century, to which the current arrangement dates back, to defend the city from enemy artillery. Sieges and earthquakes made continuous restorations necessary and the earthquake of 1930 seriously compromised the structure.
Porta Venosina: It is one of the six city gates located in the
city walls, although three of these (Porta del Bagno, Porta SS.
Maria and Porta Troiana), due to earthquakes and looting, no longer
exist. Dating back to the Swabian era, it is the only one still in
good condition and was built on the ancient route towards Venosa and
the Via Appia. To the right of the entrance you can see the coat of
arms of Melfi and, to the left, that of the Caracciolo family who
restored the walls at the end of the fifteenth century. Frederick II
had a plaque affixed to it extolling the glory and grandeur of the
city, later replaced by Sergianni II Giovanni Caracciolo, 2nd Duke
of Melfi, with the one still visible today, even if illegible. The
pointed arch is of Swabian origin, while the cylindrical tower was
added in the fifteenth century by Caracciolo.
Porta del Bagno:
Also called Porta Bagni or Porta Balnea, it was located at the
beginning of via Bagno at the Spennacchio parapharmacy. Of this
access, which was the main one, no evidence remains. The Porta Bagno
was demolished without clear reasons in 1851 after the earthquake
even though it had not reported any damage.
Porta S. Maria: The
location of this door is ambiguous, it is thought that it was
between the Navazio hardware store and the "Blue Grotto" restaurant,
this door was also called Porta San Benedetto due to the proximity
of the Benedictine monastery, the current building to the right of
the Church of the Madonna del Carmelo.
Porta Troiana: It was
built in the 15th century at the behest of Troiano Caracciolo, 1st
Duke of Melfi, from whom it took its name. Of this work only the
ruins remain.
Porta Calcinaia: It was the closest door to the
castle. It led from the artisan area, where lime and clay were
produced (hence the name), to the historic center and to the current
Via Normanni, which still leads to the Castle. Even a few
testimonies remain of this opening. Porta Calcinaia will soon be
restored as it was before the 1851 earthquake.
Porta
Sant'Antolino: It is located at the eastern end of the homonymous
road, currently it is present but badly preserved, forgotten by
everyone, it has been walled up but the arch is still visible,
although it is covered with shrubs and weeds.