Venosa (Vënósë in the Lucanian dialect) is an Italian town of 11 488 inhabitants in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata, located in the Vulture area. It is one of the municipalities registered in the association "The most beautiful villages in Italy".
Complex of the Holy Trinity
Recognized as a national monument
since 1897. Built where, in ancient times, there was a pagan temple
dedicated to Hymen, the Complex of the Holy Trinity is an attraction
that includes two churches. The ancient church (or old church) dates
back to the early Christian era, although it was later modified and
restored by the Lombards and Normans. The church houses the tomb of the
Altavilla family and of Robert Guiscard's repudiated wife, Aberada. The
new church (or unfinished church) was begun between the 11th and 12th
centuries to expand the old one, using materials stolen from the Roman
amphitheater, but its construction was never completed.
St.
Andrew's Co-Cathedral
Built at the behest of Pirro del Balzo, between
1470 and 1502, it was consecrated on 13 March 1531. To facilitate its
construction, the church of San Basilio was demolished, together with
the surrounding shops and houses. The interior of the monument is
divided into two floors and three naves, adorned with pointed arches. In
the right nave there is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, decorated
with an arch characterized by cherubs, candelabras and festoons. On the
lower floor there is the crypt which houses the tomb of Maria Donata
Orsini, wife of Pirro del Balzo.
Church of Purgatory
A baroque
style building also called the church of San Filippo Neri, it was built
in 1679 at the behest of the "Confratelli del Monte dei Morti", who also
gave financial support for its construction. On the entrance portal
there is an engraving where a phrase by the poet Horace is written,
"Pulvis et umbra". It is assumed that an architect from Rome sent by
Cardinal Giovanni Battista De Luca participated in the project. Inside
there is a seventeenth-century polyptych by an unknown author, depicting
the creation of the world and paintings by Carlo Maratta from the
eighteenth century.
Other churches
Church of Santa Maria della
Scala: Built in 1589 by Bishop Rodolfo da Tussignano and until 1868 it
housed forty Cistercian nuns. The church preserves the relics of San
Teodoro.
Church of San Martino: Of medieval origin (1262), it is
located in an alley in the ancient part of Venosa.
Church of San
Domenico: It was built in 1348, the church preserves the adjoining
convent which extended with the garden up to Piazza Orazio. Belonging to
the Rapolla family and adjacent to the Rapolla Palace of the same name
in via S.Domenico.
Church of San Rocco: It was built in 1501, after a
plague that infested the city, in honor of San Rocco (patron saint of
Venosa) who protected the city from the plague.
Church of San Biagio:
Renaissance monument which features lateral medallions depicting the
coat of arms of Pirro del Balzo and the coat of arms of the Ludovisi
princes.
Church of San Giovanni Battista: Built around 1500, it
preserves the statue of Sant'Antonio, celebrated on 13 June.
Church
of the Madonna delle Grazie: Built in the 16th century. with the
adjoining convent. Completely restored with Jubilee 2000 funds.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo
Evangelical Methodist Church: Founded
during the Protestant movement during the Risorgimento and originally
present in Venosa with a school and then with a building for worship.
Once the time of religious conflict is over, today it is an evangelical
Church well integrated into the city and involved in the social field.
Calvini Palace
Built in the seventeenth century, it was later
modified and restored in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Inside
there is a marble tablet called "I Fasti Municipali", on which the names
of Roman magistrates from 34 to 28 BC are engraved. Currently, it is the
seat of the town hall.
So-called House of Quinto Orazio Flacco
The so-called House of Horace, dating back to the 2nd century BC,
consists of two adjacent rooms identified as rooms of a spa complex, one
semicircular set up with furnishings and furnishings from the Roman era
reconstructed with experimental archeology techniques, the other
rectangular without coverage . The exterior, due to the presence of the
opus reticulatum and opus latericium wall, contains a suggestive
architectural value.
Other buildings
Palazzo del Balì: Its
construction dates back to the 15th century and its restoration was
carried out by the Bailiff of the Knights of Malta.
Palazzo De Luca:
Built around the sixteenth century and belonged to the noble De Luca
family.
Palazzo del Capitano: On the edge of the Ruscello valley it
incorporates part of the ancient city walls.
Palazzo Rapolla: Built
in 1514 and belonging to the noble Rapolla family, a palace surrounded
by fortified walls, with two access portals, adjacent to Piazza Orazio
and the church of San Domenico. It hosted, among others, Joseph
Bonaparte in 1807.
Ardes Palace
Angevin Fountain
It was erected in 1298, in honor of Charles I of
Anjou, who stayed in Venosa in September 1271 and June 1272. It features
two stone lions with a ram under their feet, symbol of the strength of
the Roman Empire, (view the Roman origin of the lions) placed at the
ends, a part of a Roman column placed in the center (not far from it)
and twenty-two stone rungs that separate the Castle square from the
Fountain. It is also an important stop for the procession (after the
washing of the feet which takes place in Piazza San Giovanni de Matha),
where Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot. It is currently active again,
with a new tap.
Fountain of Messer Oto
Built between 1313 and
1314 to pay homage to the sovereign Robert of Anjou. It is surmounted by
a large stone lion, taken from a Roman building in the city, and in the
rear part is equipped with a large basin, which in its time was used as
a public wash house.
Fountain of San Marco
Dating back to the
end of the sixteenth century, it probably took its name from the lions
that stood in front. It was used to water horses. Next door, there was a
public wash house, now unused. It is important for the location behind
the Cathedral. It currently supplies water again.
Other Fountains
Venosa has many fountains, dating back to Mussolini's period, and
recently built. Almost all of them are active, and are located in the
expansion areas; others in the historic center to supply water during
the Second World War, when it was in short supply, and where the Apulian
Aqueduct water system did not yet exist. Others, finally, were
demolished.
Farmhouses
In the abandoned village of Sanzanello
there are the rock farms of Sanzanello, where remains of villas from the
Roman era were found.
Aragonese castle
It was built in 1470 by order of Duke Pirro del
Balzo, on the spot where the ancient Cathedral stood and, even before,
there was a system of cisterns from the Roman era, the remains of which
can be observed in the courtyard of the castle. In the seventeenth
century, the castle was transformed from a fortress into a stately home
by Carlo and Emanuele Gesualdo. It has a square plan, with cylindrical
towers and is surrounded by a moat that has never been filled with
water. Inside there are the Municipal Library and the Archaeological
Museum.
Archaeological park
Located near the Unfinished Church, it
preserves evidence from the Republican period to the medieval age. It is
possible to admire the thermal complex, divided into different
environments such as the "frigidarium", composed of a floor mosaic
depicting marine animals and the "calidarium", the hot bath with small
brick pillars. We continue to the episcopal complex of the Holy Trinity,
containing a hexagonal-shaped baptismal font in the centre, preceded by
three small naves, in one of which there is a second cruciform baptismal
font.
Jewish catacombs
The Jewish catacombs are located on the
Maddalena hill, in a peripheral area of Venosa. Dated between the 3rd
and 7th centuries AD. according to the epigraphic documentation, they
were discovered in 1853 and became the object of systematic study
starting from 1974, thanks also to the work of Cesare Colafemmina. They
are composed of a series of corridors along which you can admire Jewish
tombs and iconography. Next to these catacombs, there is another
structure that houses the Christian ones, constituting a testimony of
peaceful coexistence between Jews and Christians.
Archaeological
area of Notarchirico
Discovered in 1979, it is located on the
outskirts of Venosa and consists of finds dating back to the Paleolithic
era (between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago). Remains of large animals
such as elephants, bison and rhinoceros are found. Of human traces, a
femur of an adult female of the Homo Erectus species was discovered.
Furthermore, a stratigraphic sequence was found consisting of over
eleven levels relating to the Lower Paleolithic and dating back to
between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago.
The Roman Amphitheatre
Built between the 1st and 2nd century AD, it was deprived of many works
and ornaments, currently placed in other monuments of Venosa (many were
used to erect the Unfinished Church). The first excavation was
commissioned by the Bourbons in the 19th century, where a series of
bronzes, coins and terracottas were found but, due to abandonment, the
ruins were reburied. Only in 1935 was everything brought to light. The
Roman Amphitheater has an elliptical shape, on three floors, partly
built above ground and partly created by cutting the land on which it
stands into terraces. The major axis measures 70 m while the minor axis
measures 40 m. Examining these data, it is believed that this structure
hosted around ten thousand spectators at the time. The lowest level is
that of the arena, where the "podium" terrace for important people is
located. There are two other levels, supported by three concentric
ambulatory: the first level called "ima cavea", the second "media cavea"
and the third "summa cavea".
Venosa is located in Vulture, in the north of Basilicata on a plateau between two valleys and is surrounded by lush vegetation and numerous hills. The altimetric excursion of the Venosian territory varies from 177 m a.s.l. at 813 m a.s.l., much of the city center, however, rises at a variable altitude between 400 m a.s.l. and 430 m a.s.l. The municipal house is located at an altitude of 415 m a.s.l.
The climate is temperate-sublitorial with hot and dry summers and rather cold and humid winters. It is not uncommon to exceed 40 ° in summer and go below freezing in winter. The average rainfall is around 700 mm per year, with precipitation peaks in the autumn and winter. The summer months, on the other hand, are the driest ones. Snow appears every winter with an average of about 20 cm / year.
Antiquity
The traces found together with the remains of a
Neolithic necropolis, found in the locality of Toppo d'Aguzzo in
Rapolla near the Venosa area, certify the human presence in the
Venosa area since prehistoric times. Most of these testimonies are
found in the "Paleolithic Park" of Notarchirico, an area not far
from the center.
The town, probably founded by the Latin
populations, was torn by the Romans from the Samnites in 291 BC. by
the consul Lucio Postumio Megello, who made it a Latin colony, where
about 20,000 individuals moved. After the battle of Canne (216 BC)
the defeated consul Gaius Terentius Varro repaired there.
During the Second Punic War, in 208, the consul Marco Claudio
Marcello died there, attacked by Hannibal during a reconnaissance.
Following the Hannibal war the city was reduced (200 BC
approx.), With the sending of new settlers. In 190 BC the foundation
of the Via Appia is an opportunity for strong development of the
center. During the social war it was at the side of the Italic
allies, but was subdued by Quinto Cecilio Metello Pio and in 89 BC,
despite this, received the title of Municipium (Roman city),
obtaining the right to vote and citizenship for its inhabitants .
With the contribution of new settlers, Venosa acquired a great
development, also given its privileged location in the Via Appia
(one of the most important communication routes of antiquity), which
connected Rome to Brindisi. In 65 BC, Quinto Orazio Flacco, one of
the most illustrious poets of the ancient era, was born and lived in
the town hall, later emigrating to Rome. In 43 BC it was the subject
of a new deduction by the triumvirs, who expropriated the lands of
the ager publicus, redistributing them among the veterans.
With the imperial age, in the early periods of the advent of
Christianity (around 70 AD), one of the first Jewish communities in
Italy settled in Venosa, which managed to integrate with the local
population. A testimony of this coexistence is the Maddalena hill,
where both Semitic and Christian burials are placed in its cavities.
In 114 A.D. Via Traiana was opened, which connected Benevento and
Brindisi but did not touch Venosa, bringing disadvantageous economic
consequences for the city.
Several hypotheses on the
etymology of Hikaru. The one that considers the city founded in
honor of the goddess of love, Venus (in Latin Venus, also through
the transformed Phoenician Benoth), receives more credit. For
others, the origin of the name is in the abundance and goodness of
its wines (vinous), or in the veins of water of which it is rich or,
again, in the windy climate (windy).
Middle Ages
With the
fall of the Roman Empire and the consequent advent of the medieval
era, Venosa was subject to repeated occupations by barbarian
populations from the fifth century. In 476 the Heruli of Odoacer
invaded the town while the Ostrogoths, in 493, transformed it into
an administrative, political and economic center, a title later
conferred on Acerenza. Between 570 and 590, the Lombards elected it
the seat of gastaldato. Subsequently the city returned to the
possession of the Byzantines, who included it in Thema Langobardia.
Byzantine rite churches and monasteries were built: around 980, the
monastery of San Nicola di Morbano should be noted.
In 842
the city was sacked by the Saracens, who, in turn, were expelled by
Ludovico II, ruler of the Carolingian Empire. In 1041 the Normans of
Arduino, winning the battle of the Olivento river, conquered the
whole region. During the Norman dominion, Venosa was assigned to
Drogone d'Altavilla. In 1133 Venosa was sacked and set on fire by
Ruggero II of Sicily. With the arrival of the Swabians, Frederick II
had a castle built, erected in a place where there was a Lombard
fortress of the eleventh century, to which he will assign the
function of Treasury of the Kingdom (Ministry of Finance).
From 1200, the Castle became the convent of the Augustinian
Friars, then passed to the Salesians and finally to the Trinitarian
Fathers, who still live in the building today. Around 1177, about
the same period as the Augustinian Friars, there was the presence of
nuns in the "Monastery of San Benedetto". In 1232, the future
Swabian king Manfredi, son of Frederick II and Bianca Lancia, was
born in Venosa. The Swabians were succeeded by the Angevins and in
1304, King Charles of Anjou assigned Venosa with a count title to
his son Roberto, known as "Il Saggio".
Renaissance
After a
continuous succession of feudal lords, the city was granted as a
fief to the Orsini in 1453. It was brought as a dowry in 1443 by
Donata Orsini to Duke Pirro Del Balzo, who built the Castle (from
1460 to 1470) and the co-cathedral of Sant Andrea (of which only the
date of termination, 1502, and of consecration, 1531 is known). It
suffered considerable damage and some deaths due to the
central-southern Italy earthquake of 1456.
After the
Angevins, the Aragonese of the Gesualdo family settled, who became,
in 1561, feudal lords and princes of Venosa, making the city an
important center of cultural, intellectual and artistic activities.
It was in this period that Prince Carlo Gesualdo lived, one of the
most prestigious musicians of his time but also one of the most
discussed; it is said that the composer took refuge in his fiefdom
of Gesualdo after having assassinated, in Naples, his wife (and
cousin) Maria d'Avalos, guilty of having betrayed him with the Duke
of Andria, Fabrizio Carafa.
In this period, Venosa also saw
the birth of some important cultural centers: in 1582 the Accademia
dei Piacevoli and Soavi was established, including Luigi Tansillo,
Annibale Caracciolo, Ascanio and Giacomo Cenna, Bartolomeo and Luigi
Maranta, Orazio de Gervasiis , Scipione de Monti Giovanni Antonio
Rossano, and in 1612 the Accademia dei Rinascenti, the latter
founded by Emanuele Gesualdo, son of the composer. In 1589,
according to the norms of the Council of Trent, the female monastery
"Santa Maria della Scala" was transferred and built outside the city
walls. In the late Renaissance, the future cardinal Giovanni
Battista De Luca was born in 1614, who moved to study in Salerno and
Naples, and then settled in Rome, where he received the appointment
of cardinal from Pope Innocent XI. In 1647, Venosa took part in the
Masaniellan revolt, led in Basilicata by Matteo Cristiano.
The 15th century was characterized by a notable seismic activity, in
particular 3 events caused significant damage and victims: the first
dates back to 1625 with its epicenter in the city, the dead were 40.
The effects of the Sannio earthquake of 1688 and , a few years
later, of the 1694 Irpinia and Basilicata earthquake.
From
the eighteenth century to today
In both centuries, the fief of
Venosa was entrusted to various noble families, such as the Ludovisi
and the Caracciolos. At the end of the eighteenth century, the
Rapolla and other Venetian gentlemen elaborated the constitution of
the republican municipality, which was hampered by the people's
uprisings, thus creating a strong conflict between the two sides.
In 1808, Venosa became the third largest city in Basilicata,
after Melfi and Matera, as well as having active and passive rights
in the Napoleonic National Parliament. In 1820, it played a small
role in peasant uprisings and Carbonari uprisings. During the riots
of 1848, Luigi La Vista, a young poet and writer of liberal
sentiments, became the protagonist among the Venosians, who was
killed on May 15, 1848 in Naples by some Swiss soldiers.
Between January and July 1849, Venosa probably recorded the darkest
period of its contemporary history. A very harsh resentment arose
between landowners, those who were in favor of the sale of land
shares to peasants and those who were against it. The disagreement
resulted in a real civil war, aggravated by political interests and
vendettas. The conflict was abruptly repressed and many people
(mostly innocent) ended up in the dungeons of the Castle.
The
Vulture earthquake of 1851 hit the city violently, causing the
collapse of some buildings and the death of 4 people. A few years
later other damages were added due to the Basilicata earthquake of
1857.
With the unification of Italy, in 1861 it was conquered by the
brigands of the Rioneers Carmine Crocco, who, after defeating the
garrison of the Venosian National Guard, were welcomed and supported
by the local population. During the occupation, Francesco Saverio
Nitti, grandfather of the homonymous southernist, was killed. In
1866, Vincenzo Tangorra, deputy of the Popular Party and Minister of
the Treasury during the first Mussolini government was born in
Venosa. In 1889, Giustino Fortunato received honorary citizenship
for his commitment to the construction of the Rocchetta-Gioia del
Colle railway line.
In 1908 the transition from oil and gas
to electric lighting took place. It was hit by the Vulture
earthquake of 1930: some houses collapsed, many were damaged. In
1944, in the last period of the Second World War, a runway was built
for the troops of the 485th Bombing Group of the USAAF. It was the
only airport built in Basilicata during the war. In 1946, after the
Second World War, the institutional referendum of 2 June registered
3,047 votes for the monarchy and 2,959 for the republic. The
earthquake of November 23, 1980 was felt quite intensely, causing
panic and damage, mostly minor, to most of the houses. In 1992 the
two thousandth anniversary of the death of Orazio Flacco was
celebrated.