The city of Horace, with the Incompiuta of the Trinità and the archaeological park
In the north of Basilicata, on a plateau near the Vulture, Venosa is one of the most fascinating historic towns of southern Italy, one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia", with a history that spans more than two thousand years. Founded by the Romans as a colony in 291 BC, the ancient Venusia was an important centre on the Via Appia, and here, in 65 BC, was born Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), one of the greatest Latin poets, the author of the Odes and the famous motto "carpe diem"; a so-called "House of Horace" and a monument in the main square recall him. In the Renaissance, Venosa was also the birthplace of the prince-composer Carlo Gesualdo, a great madrigalist with a dark history. In the centre stands the Aragonese Castle, built in the fifteenth century by Pirro del Balzo, with a moat and round towers, which houses the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
On the edge of the town lies the archaeological park, with the remains of the Roman city, baths, houses with mosaics and the amphitheatre, next to which stands the Abbey of the Santissima Trinità, one of the most important monuments of the Norman South. It consists of the old church, of Lombard and Norman origin, which preserves frescoes and the tomb of the Hauteville (Altavilla) family, the Norman conquerors of southern Italy, including Robert Guiscard and his first wife Alberada, and the Incompiuta, the "Unfinished", a huge church begun in the twelfth century and never completed, whose roofless walls, columns and apses, built with stones taken from the Roman amphitheatre, create an evocative sight. Nearby are the Jewish catacombs of late antiquity.
Tip: visit the Santissima Trinità and the Incompiuta at sunset; then the castle and its museum.
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