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BENEVENTO |
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BENEVENTO , further inland than Cápua or Caserta and reachable in
about an hour and a half from Naples 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 Naples 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 Hadrian - 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 province beyond and, like most of Benevento,
relatively unvisited by tourists.
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