The Lombard church with a star-shaped plan
The church of Santa Sofia in Benevento is one of the most important monuments of the Lombards in Italy and, since 2011, part of the UNESCO site "Longobards in Italy. Places of power". It was built around 760 by Arechis II, Duke of Benevento, as the national shrine of his people, modelled on Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
The church has a unique and surprising plan: a central hexagon of columns, surrounded by a ring of pillars arranged in a decagon, enclosed in an outer wall shaped like a star, with alternating straight and angled sections. The result is a space of great originality, in which light and perspective change at every step. In the apses survive fragments of eighth century frescoes with stories of Zechariah and the Annunciation. Next to the church, the twelfth century cloister, with its Moorish-style arches on carved capitals, is home to the Museo del Sannio, with Egyptian finds from the temple of Isis built by Emperor Domitian.
Tip: the museum and the cloister share opening times; Benevento is a quiet city ideal for a day trip from Naples.
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