Benevento is a city of mysteries, myths and legends. A land rich in history and natural beauty that despite being the hinterland of Campania has always attracted many tourists.
Also known as the town of witches, Benevento was once the city sannitica, Romanian, Lombard and then papal. Every era has left an important heritage which is reflected in places to visit and sights to be discovered. The complex of Santa Sofia is one good example.
Visit Benevento: the Santa Sofia Monumental
In the top 10 of things to do in Benevento can not miss the monumental complex of Santa Sofia, elected Heritage in 2011. extremely beautiful monument built in Lombard times the Santa Sofia in Benevento Monumental complex is part of the serial site “Lombards in Italy: the places of power”, including seven places full of architectural treasures, pictorial and sculptural art Lombard. Excellent example of architectural work belonging to Langobardia Minor,Lombard domains of central and southern, perfectly preserved, the complex includes not only the Church but also the monastery, the bell tower and fountain.
The church
Located at the center of a piazza that for centuries has been the subject of interventions that have distorted the structure, the Church has a particular star-shaped central structure and is the result of numerous restorations carried out over the centuries that have profoundly changed the appearance. It was dedicated to St. Sofia, or to “Wisdom”, as the eponymous church of Constantinople, with a donation of 774 by the Lombard Duke Arechi II.
The fountain
Designed in 1800 Colle architect Nicola De Vita, The fountain dominates the square in front of the Complex of Santa Sofia. Its particular shape places it at the center: impossible not to notice an obelisk that rises up toward the sky surrounded by four lions from whose mouth water gushes. Modified several times over the centuries, the fountain in the past saw the obelisk topped by a globe with over the imperial eagle bronze, emblem of Napoleonic France.
The monastery and cloister
The church is attached to a monastery where stands a beautiful cloister quadrangular. Fifteen quadrifore and one trifora adorn the space with a central hollow capital which is a pit. The former monastery is now home to the Museum of the Sannio, which houses archaeological finds, weapons, prints, coins and an art gallery with paintings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.
The bell tower
It contributes to the beauty of the monumental complex of Santa Sofia in Benevento also the bell tower overlooking the square after the earthquake 1688 It was built in a different location than the original. Currently it located within the walls that once surrounded the monastery and the garden setting and the coats of arms on the walls that have dominated over the years the city of Benevento.
