On a tuff outcrop above the Bradano valley, 833 metres up, stands one of the most beautiful villages in Italy: Acerenza, the „città cattedrale“. Its cathedral is regarded as the most important Romanesque church in Basilicata, and the medieval centre has remained almost unchanged. From Matera it takes about an hour and a half.
Acerenza has around 2,000 inhabitants and belongs to the „Borghi più belli d’Italia“, Italy’s most beautiful villages. The place was already known in antiquity as Acheruntia, mentioned by Livy and Horace; in the 5th century it became a bishop’s seat. Drive up today and you see the cathedral standing above the plateau from far off.
What to see in Acerenza
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and San Canio
Begun in 1059 under Robert Guiscard, consecrated in 1080 and completed between the 11th and 13th centuries: 69 metres long, 23 metres wide, with three naves, Romanesque on the Cluniac model with Gothic elements. Alterations followed in 1281 and after the earthquake of 1524. The church stands over an early Christian predecessor, which in turn replaced a temple of Hercules Acheruntinus. In 1954 it was raised to a minor basilica.
Ambulatory with radiating chapels
The architectural distinction lies behind the altar: an ambulatory around the choir with chapels set radially around it. This solution, which came from France, is very rare in southern Italian church building – it is worth the journey on its own.
Cripta Ferrillo
The crypt of 1524 was commissioned by the Ferrillo-Balsa counts and modelled on the Cappella del Succorpo of San Gennaro in Naples: decorated columns, reliefs and frescoes by Giovanni Todisco da Abriola with apostles, evangelists and an Adoration of the Magi. A well-known story attaches to the place: Maria Balsa, said to have been a daughter of Vlad Țepeș, the historical Dracula, is supposed to be buried here. There is no evidence for it – it is a local legend, and it still draws visitors.
Works of art in the cathedral
Worth seeking out are the 17th-century wooden bust of San Canio, which encloses a stone bust of the 8th century, Antonio Stabile’s polyptych „Madonna del Rosario“ of 1583 with the fifteen mysteries of the rosary, and a Pietà of 1570 in the left transept.
Old town, San Laviero and the diocesan museum
The centre is a network of winding lanes with fresh views over the Bradano valley at every turn. There are also the church of San Laviero Martire of 1065 and the diocesan museum of sacred art.
Getting there from Matera
About 83 kilometres by car and roughly an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half on the SS 655 Bradanica and country roads; the final kilometres are winding mountain road. The village is effectively unreachable by public transport: Acerenza station lies six kilometres away and several hundred metres lower.
Park about 200 metres before the centre; you do not drive into the lanes. The village is small and can be covered on foot in an hour and a half to two hours, but it is steep throughout and cobbled.
Best time to visit
May, June, September and October are the finest. Because of the altitude it is more comfortable here than in the valley even in high summer, but cold and windy in winter. The patron saint San Canio is celebrated on 25 May and 1 September, with processions through the village. October and November bring the grape harvest – Acerenza too belongs to the Aglianico del Vulture area.
A footnote to history
For centuries a marble bust stood on the cathedral façade, venerated as an image of the patron San Canio. Present scholarship holds that it depicts the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, who returned to the old religion in the 4th century. The bust has since moved to the museum and been replaced by a cross.
A day in Acerenza
Acerenza alone fills half a day. It combines well with Venosa, 35 kilometres away: Acerenza in the morning, Venosa in the afternoon, since the excavations there need more time. On the way back, the Lago di Acerenza reservoir makes a good stop.
