Potenza (Puténzë in Potentino dialect) is an Italian town of 66
391 inhabitants, the capital of the Basilicata region and the
province of the same name. It is the first municipality in the
region by population.
It is known as the "vertical city" for
its particular urban structure, which presents the historic center
placed on the highest hill and the remaining districts placed at
gradually lower altitudes; with its 819 meters above sea level
Potenza is the regional capital located at the highest altitude in
Italy and is the second highest among the provincial capitals after
Enna. It is also known as the "city of a hundred stairs" or "city of
stairs", due to its system of stairs, ancient and modern, which
connects the various parts of the urban center: the city has, in
fact, the system of escalators for the largest public transport in
Europe and the second in the world after Tokyo.
Capital of
Basilicata since 1806, seat of the University of Basilicata since
1982, Potenza is one of the few Italian cities to have been awarded
two gold medals: the first as a worthy city of the national
Risorgimento, in 1898, the second as a medal of 'gold for civil
merit, in 2005.
The city rises in the high Basento valley, along an
Apennine ridge north of the Lucanian Dolomites enclosed by various
higher mountains, including the Li Foj Mountains, therefore Potenza
rises in an area of high seismicity.
The medieval core of
the town is located on a relief at 819 meters above sea level, so
that for official altitude Potenza is second only to Enna among the
Italian provincial capitals. The more modern districts, on the other
hand, rise further down, until they touch the course of the Basento
river, whose riverbed has been heavily man-made since the second
half of the 20th century.
By area, the municipality of
Potenza is the eleventh largest in the region.
The climate is Mediterranean and mountainous, therefore relatively cold and snowy in winter, warm and dry in summer. January is statistically the coldest month and the average temperature is +3.5 ° C, while July and August are the hottest months and record an average temperature of just over +20 ° C.
The first theory on the origin of the name of the city was reported
by the historian Emmanuele Viggiano, who in his Memoirs of the City
of Potenza cites a hypothesis according to which the toponym derives
from the ancient Greeks who, seeing the city originally located on
the banks of the Basento and struck by the use that the inhabitants
made of its waters, they would have given it the same name given to
the river, which corresponded to the Greek word Ποτὶζω (Potizo);
this term in Latin would later become Potentia, from which the
current name derives. According to Viggiano, therefore, the name of
the city would have a purely Greek character, which could not have
derived from the language of the Lucanian people.
The
hypothesis of contemporary historians is instead that the city took
on this name on the occasion of the foundation of the Roman colony
of Potentia, as similar to the name of other colonies such as
Florentia, Valentia or Faventia augural Latin, which can be
translated as "the powerful".
Symbols
The most
complete description of the city coat of arms dates back to the
historian Giuseppe Gattini, operating at the beginning of the
twentieth century and author of a publication on Lucanian municipal
weapons:
"Weapon of blue to a lion crowned with gold, supported
by a band lowered and stitched in red, and surmounted on the head by
three silver stars."
According to an inauthentic tradition,
moreover, the lion of the coat of arms of the city of Potenza would
be a gradient on a scale, which probably derives from the use of
master stonemasons to conventionally reproduce the red color on
marble by carving parallel and vertical grooves (other colors, such
as for example the blue, were rendered by tracing oblique streaks),
which later led to think that the red band was precisely a scale.
The banner instead consists of a yellow cloth, loaded with the coat
of arms with the inscription centered in gold of the city of
Potenza.
The metal part and the cords are gilded, while the
vertical shaft is covered with yellow velvet with golden tacks
placed in a spiral and in the arrow the emblem of the city is
represented and the name is engraved on the stem. The banner is
completed with a tie and tricolor ribbons in the national colors
fringed with gold.
Intramural religious architectures
The
historic center of Potenza is full of religious buildings dating
back mainly to the Middle Ages, some of them probably built on
pre-existing early Christian churches. Below is the list of the main
religious buildings of historical, artistic and architectural
interest present in the ancient part of the city.
Cathedral
of San Gerardo
It is the main church in the historic center;
located in Largo Duomo, it dates back to the 13th century and was
first dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption and then to Gerardo
della Porta who became the patron saint of the city. In fact, the
church preserves the remains of the patron saint, a silver and
crystal urn with the relics of the saint, as well as the wooden
statue of the saint from the 15th century. The cathedral should also
rise on the site of a previous sacred construction, given that
during the archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s,
underground remains of mosaic fragments of polychrome flooring
dating back to the 4th or 5th century were discovered. Rebuilt by a
student of Vanvitelli at the end of the eighteenth century at the
behest of Bishop Andrea Serrao, the cathedral changed radically and
passed from a Romanesque basilica to a clearly neoclassical
building. Relevant elements are the 13th century stone facade,
rebuilt between 1197 and 1220 by Bishop Bartolomeo, the high altar
in marble with polychrome inlays from the 18th century and a 15th
century wooden crucifix, as well as a marble chapel dedicated to the
saint Father built in the 17th century.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo
Located near the western end
of Via Pretoria, it is a typical example of a Romanesque style
church. Its presence is attested for the first time in 1178, but
from archaeological findings the original structure of the building,
belonging to a previous structure of the late Roman period, dates
back to the 5th century. It has a bell tower and a structure with
three naves, inside there are works of valuable artistic value among
which the painting of the Annunciation of 1612 by Pietrafesa, a
fresco of the Madonna and Child between the artist's Saints Peter
and Paul stand out Dirk Hendricksz from the sixteenth century and a
wooden crucifix from the seventeenth century.
Church of the Holy
Trinity
Located near Piazza Mario Pagano, in the direction of the
Duomo, it is attested since 1178. It was damaged by the earthquake
of 1857 and was rebuilt with a different plan than the original one,
with a single nave with various chapels, a semicircular apse and a
coffered ceiling.
Church and convent of San Francesco
Next to
the Palazzo della Prefettura there is the church of San Francesco
with an adjoining convent, built in 1274. It has a portal with
carved fourteenth-century wooden shutters and a bell tower built
from the fifteenth century. Inside there is the Renaissance-style
tomb of the nobleman Paride De Grassis, as well as the remains of a
fresco with a Byzantine style Madonna of the thirteenth century and
La Pietà del Pietrafesa.
Chapel of Blessed Bonaventura
Dedicated to the Franciscan friar Bonaventura da Potenza who was
beatified in 1775, it is located in the alley of the same name and
was originally the birthplace of the blessed. It has a portal of
notable artistic relief in limestone, in the center of which we find
two heads of cherubs surmounted by a Franciscan coat of arms. Inside
a single room divided into two small rooms there are various
portraits, including one by Michele Busciolano from 1907 which
represents the ecstasy of the blessed.
Church of Santa Lucia
It is located on the northern edge of the historic center and was
built before 1200; it consists of a single nave and houses a
seventeenth-century statue of Santa Lucia, some paintings from the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and a fifteenth-century stoup
from the church of Santa Maria del Sepolcro.
Monastery of San
Luca
It currently houses the carabinieri barracks and is located
at the end of via Pretoria in the direction of the Guevara Tower.
Initially entrusted to the Cisternine nuns of the Benedictine order,
it was the only monastery of women only in the city and later passed
to the Poor Clares.
Church of Maria Santissima Annunziata of
Loreto
The church dedicated to the Madonna of Loreto is located
outside the perimeter of the ancient city walls, just after Porta
San Giovanni. It has small dimensions and a structure that has
remained unchanged over the centuries, but characterized by many
restorations due to the many earthquakes. In the church there is a
painting of 1824 by the painter Buonadonna from Potenza portraying
the Annunciation.
Extramural religious architectures
In a
smaller number, there are churches of historical and artistic
importance also outside the city center, listed below.
Church
of Santa Maria del Sepolcro
Located in the Santa Maria district,
immediately downstream from the historic center, it was built
between the 13th and 17th centuries by the Knights of the Templar
Order on the initiative of the Count of Santa Sofia on the return of
the third crusade in 1191; in fact there are many similarities with
the Mother Church of Ripacandida which bears the same title. The
hamlet of the Holy Sepulcher was built in this position north of the
city, right at the intersection of the Herculea and Appia roads,
which were traveled by pilgrims heading to the Holy Land. The church
houses valuable paintings and on the right wall there is the
monumental Baroque altar of the relic of the Precious Blood of
Christ.
Church of San Rocco
Neoclassical style building,
located near the ancient cemetery, it was built in the same place as
the previous church dedicated to the same saint, which was destroyed
in 1832. It has various statues both inside and outside, including
two valuable artifacts in wood depicting San Vito and San Rocco,
carved in the mid-nineteenth century by Michele Busciolano; in the
church there is also a funerary stele of Roman origin, dated between
the 1st and 2nd centuries.
Church of Sant'Antonio la Macchia
A
cult building located in the district dedicated to the homonymous
saint, within a city park. Dating back to 1530, it was entirely
rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century.
The most important civil buildings in the city are mainly located in the historic center; some of them are built in the nineteenth or twentieth century, but there is no lack of noble palaces dating back to the seventeenth century or medieval. Below is the list of the most important buildings.
Prefecture building
The other noteworthy building in Piazza Mario
Pagano on the side adjacent to that of the Teatro Stabile is the
nineteenth-century Government Palace, which reflects the aesthetic
canons of 1800 architecture: linearity, symmetry, rationality of
forms. A prominent element is the facade, with various architectural
elements such as pilasters, tympanums and an entablature that
supports the balcony of the reception hall. Inside there are works
by famous painters, including Vincenzo Marinelli and Giacomo Di
Chirico.
City Palace
It overlooks piazza Giacomo Matteotti,
the other important square in the center. The building houses the
municipal administration and its original construction dates back to
the Angevin era. Like almost all historic buildings in Potenza, it
too has been restored and rebuilt several times following the many
earthquakes that hit the area. The important artistic element is a
facade from 1882, with a round arch located between two large
windows and a large balcony.
Palazzo del Fascio
Also in Piazza
Matteotti is the Palazzo della Casa del Fascio, built like the other
houses of the Fascio present in Italy during the Fascist regime, it
is currently used as the seat of the City Council. The building
represents an example of neoclassical architecture and stands in the
same place where the chapel of San Nicola was previously present,
deconsecrated and demolished to make way for the current building.
Francesco Stabile Theater
Located in the main
square, or Piazza Mario Pagano, it is the only example of an opera
house in Basilicata. Its construction began in 1856 but it was
possible to inaugurate it only in 1881 due to an interruption of the
works due to the earthquake of 1857.
Auditorium of the Carlo
Gesualdo da Venosa Conservatory
Auditorium of the city
Conservatory located in the Poggio Tre Galli district, whose
construction was completed in 1986. It is a valuable postmodern
style structure, one of the best works designed by the architect
Rebecchini, included by some researchers in the list of the best 14
auditoriums at world.
Stately buildings
In the city center
there are several historic buildings that belonged to important
noble families and later to bourgeois families of the city, in
addition to the bishop's palace.
Palazzo Loffredo (15th - 16th
century), seat of the National Archaeological Museum of Basilicata
dedicated to Dinu Adameșteanu, was built as a count's palace by
Count Iñigo de Guevara, but takes its current name from the family
of the Loffredo counts;
Palazzo Vescovile (XVII - XVIII
century), residence of the bishop of the Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro
Lucano-Marsico Nuovo, was the scene of the assassination of Giovanni
Andrea Serrao in 1799;
Palazzo Scafarelli (18th century), built
as the residence of the homonymous bourgeois family, has the elegant
main facade as a prominent element;
Palazzo Reale (1927), an
architectural exceptionality with a particular very narrow
structure, was commissioned by the patriot Ascanio Branca;
Palazzo Marsico (19th century), massive neoclassical structure also
conceived as the home of the ancient bourgeois family whose name it
bears;
Palazzo Pignatari (16th century), formerly Palazzo
Ciccotti, includes an ancient portal visible from the homonymous
Largo Pignatari;
Bonifacio Palace (17th - 18th century), a noble
palace probably initially used as a fort given its imposing
structure and the presence of slits;
Palazzo Biscotti (XVIII
century), for centuries the residence of the homonymous family
belonging to the landed bourgeoisie, also hosted the journalist
Giovanni Russo and is currently being restored;
Palazzo Giuliani
(probably 17th century), another noble residence, usual stop for
those condemned to the death penalty who hoped to be pardoned by the
lord owner of the building;
Palazzo de Bonis (XII century),
originally part of the city walls, was also used as a hospital as
well as a noble residence;
Palazzo Castellucci, which remained
the property of an ancient family of the city, overlooked the
homonymous larghetto, demolished in the sixties, an obligatory point
of passage for people who went to the nearby Porta di San Giovanni
market.
Palazzo Riviello (17th century), initially named after
the statesman Nicola Alianelli, also served as a cell for prisoners
awaiting trial.
Palazzo Branca-Quagliano (18th century), the
scene of the assassination of the revolutionary Siani brothers in
1799, passed to the Branca family in the 19th century and hosted
King Ferdinand II who visited in 1848.