Diapositiva 1

1
Benevento
A city for historians and arts love
2
Ancient remains Arch of Trajan

• The importance of Benevento in classical times is
  vouched for by the many remains of antiquity
  which it possesses, of which the most famous is
  the triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan by
  the senate and people of Rome in 114, with
  important reliefs relating to its history.
  Enclosed in the walls, this construction marked
  the entrance in Benevento of the Via Traiana, the
  road built by the Spanish emperor to shorten the
  path from Rome to Brindisi. The reliefs show the
  civil and military deeds of Trajan.

3

• The well-preserved Roman theatre (next to the
  Cathedral and the Port'Arsas). This grandiose
  building was erected by Hadrian, and later
  expanded by Caracalla. It had a diameter of 90
  meters and could house up to 10,000 spectators.
  It is currently used for theatre, dance, and
  opera performances.

4

• A brick arch called Arco del Sacramento.

5

• The Ponte Leproso, a bridge on the Via Appia over
  the Sabato river, below the city center.
• Thermae along the road to Avellino.

6

• The Bue Apis, popularly known as A ufara
  ("buffalo"). It is a basement in the shape of an
  ox or bull coming from the Temple of Isis.

7

• Many inscriptions and ancient fragments may be
  seen built into the old houses. In 1903 the
  foundations of the Temple of Isis were discovered
  close to the Arch of Trajan, and many fragments
  of fine sculptures in both the Egyptian and the
  Greco-Roman style belonging to it were found.
  They had apparently been used as the foundation
  of a portion of the city wall, reconstructed in
  663 under the fear of an attack by the Byzantine
  emperor Constans II, the temple having been
  destroyed by order of the bishop, St Barbatus, to
  provide the necessary material .

8

• Sant'Ilario, not far from the Arch of Traian
  along the first trait of the Via Traiana, is a
  very ancient, small building dating from the end
  of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century.

9
The Cathedral

• The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, with its
  fine arcaded façade and incomplete square
  campanile (begun in 1279 by by the archbishop
  Romano Capodiferro) dates from the 9th century.
  It was rebuilt in 1114. The façade was inspired
  by the Pisane Gothic style. Its bronze doors,
  adorned with bas-reliefs, are notable example of
  Romanesque art which may belong to the beginning
  of the 13th century.

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• The interior is in the form of a basilica, the
  double aisles carried on ancient columns. There
  are ambones resting on columns supported by
  lions, and decorated with reliefs and coloured
  marble mosaic, and a candelabrum of 1311. A
  marble statue of the apostle San Bartolomeo, by
  Nicola da Monteforte, is also from the 14th
  century. The cathedral also contains a statue of
  St. Giuseppe Moscati, a native of the area.

11
Rocca dei Rettori

• The castle of Benevento, best known as Rocca dei
  Rettori or Rocca di Manfredi, stands at the
  highest point of the town, commanding the valley
  of the rivers Sabato and Calore, and the two main
  ancient roads Via Appia and Via Traiana. The site
  had been already used by the Samnites, who had
  constructed here a set of defensive terraces, and
  the Romans, with a thermal plant (Castellum
  aquae), whose remains can be still seen in the
  castle garden. The Benedictines had here a
  monastery. It received the current name in the
  Middle Ages, when it became the seat of the Papal
  governors, the Rettori.

12

• The castle is in fact made by two distinct
  edifices the Torrione ("Big Tower"), which was
  built by the Lombards starting from 871, and the
  Palazzo dei Governatori, built by the Popes from
  1320.

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• The end, for now