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About Benevento
BENEVENTO , further inland than Cápua or Caserta and reachable in about an hour and a half from city by bus, was another important Roman settlement, a key point on the Via Appia between Rome and Brindisi and as such a thriving trading town. Founded in 278 BC, it was at the time the farthest point from Rome to be colonized, and even now it has a remote air about it, circled by hills and with a centre that was (pointlessly) bombed to smithereens in the last war and even now seems only half rebuilt. Its climate also ranks among southern Italy’s most extreme.
The Town
Buses from city drop you on the main square, where the Duomo is an almost total reconstruction of its thirteenth-century Romanesque original; what’s left of its famous bronze doors, believed to be Byzantine, is now stashed inside. Left from here, the main street, Corso Garibaldi , leads up the hill, a once elegant thoroughfare lined with ancient palaces. Off to the left about halfway up, the Arch of Trajan is the major remnant of the Roman era, a marvellously preserved triumphal arch that is refreshing after the scaffolding and netting of Rome’s arches, since you can get close enough to study its friezes. Built to guard the entrance to Benevento from the Appian Way, it’s actually as heavy-handed a piece of self-acclaim as there ever was, showing the Emperor Trajan in various scenes of triumph, power and generosity. Further up Corso Garibaldi, the Museo Sannio (Tues-Sun 9am-1pm), in the cloister behind the eighth-century church of Santa Sofia, holds a selection of Roman finds from the local area, including a number of artefacts from a temple of Isis - various sphinxes, bulls and a headless statue of Isis herself. There are also terracotta votive figurines from the fifth century BC, and the cloister itself has capitals carved with energetic scenes of animals, humans and strange beasts - hunting, riding and attacking. There are more bits and pieces from Roman times scattered around the rather battered old quarter of town, the Triggio - reached by following Via Carlo Torre off to the left of the main road beyond the cathedral. The Bue Apis , at the far end of Corso Dante, is another relic from the temple of Isis, a first-century BC sculpture of a bull. And in the heart of the old quarter there are the substantial remains of a Teatro Romano built during the reign of Adrian - though it’s been a little over-restored for modern use. In Hadrian’s time it seated 20,000 people, rather less today as the upper level remains mossily decrepit, but it’s still an atmospheric sight - looking out over the green rolling countryside of the domain beyond and, like most of Benevento, relatively unvisited by tourists.
Tags: ancient palaces, appian way, arch of trajan, bronze doors, century church, cloister, corso garibaldi, eighth century, emperor trajan, farthest point, friezes, headless statue, last war, roman settlement, santa sofia, smithereens, southern italy, sun 9am, temple of isis, via appia