Venosa
Encyclopedia : V : VE : VEN : Venosa
| Venosa Statistics | |
| Country: | Italy |
| Region | Basilicata |
| Province: | Potenza |
| Location: | |
| Area: | 169 km² |
| Population: | 12,172 ([2003 data istat.it]) |
| Population density: | 72 ab./km² |
| Elevation: | 415 metres (a.s.l.) |
| Postal code: | 85029 |
| Auto code:: | [PZ] |
| Tel. prefix: | 0972 |
| ISTAT code: | 017076095 |
| Fiscal code: | L738 |
| Name of habitants: | Venosini |
| Municipality Website: | [Comune di Venosa] |
The town originated in Roman times when it was known as 'Venusia. It was captured by the Roman Republic in the Samnite Wars, and in 190 BC the Appian way was extended to the town. The Roman poet Horace was the native of Venusia. Princes of Venosa included the 16th-century composer and murderer Carlo Gesualdo.
The castle of Venosa was built in 1470 by Pirro di Balzo, and contains four stables each for fifty horses. Many fragments of Roman workmanship are built into the walls of the cathedral, which is due to him also. The abbey church of SS. Trinita is historically interesting; it was consecrated in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II and passed into the hands of the Knights of Saint John in the time of Boniface VIII (1295-1303). In the central aisle is the tomb of Alberada, the first wife of Robert Guiscard and mother of Bohemund.
An inscription on the wall commemorates the great Norman brothers William Iron Arm, Brogo, Humfrey, and Robert Guiscard. The bones of these brothers rest together in a simple stone sarcophagus opposite the tomb of Alberada. The church also contains some 14th-century frescoes. Behind it is a larger church, which was begun for the Benedictines about 1150, from the designs of a French architect, in imitation of the Cluniac church at Paray-le-Monial, but never carried beyond the spring of the vaulting. The ancient amphitheatre adjacent furnished the materials for its walls.
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