Few places in Basilicata tell so much history in so small a space: Venosa was a Roman colony on the Via Appia, the birthplace of the poet Horace, an early Christian bishop’s seat and the burial place of Norman counts – and today it lies in the heart of Aglianico del Vulture wine country. From Matera it is a good hour and a quarter.
Venosa stands at 415 metres in the north of Basilicata, with around 10,500 inhabitants. Anyone arriving from Matera notices the change: not a cave city but a flat, easily walkable old town of pale stone, a castle with four towers, and at the edge of town an excavation site reaching back to before the birth of Christ.
What makes Venosa special
In 291 BC the Romans founded the colony of Venusia here on the Via Appia, the most important road between Rome and Brindisi. In 65 BC Quintus Horatius Flaccus, the poet Horace, was born in this town – which is why Venosa still calls itself the „città oraziana“. The Normans came later, and in the 15th century the Del Balzo and Gesualdo families. Something of every one of these layers is still standing.
What to see in Venosa
Archaeological park
The site lies about a kilometre and a half north-east of the centre, next to the abbey. You can see a large bath complex of the 1st century AD, a house with mosaic floors, paved streets and the amphitheatre. The ground is uneven and there is no shade – sturdy shoes and sun protection are worth having.
Abbey of the Santissima Trinità and the „Incompiuta“
The abbey complex is the most powerful place in town. It consists of the old church, built over an early Christian episcopal complex and a Roman house, and the „Incompiuta“, the Unfinished: at the end of the 11th century the Normans began a great basilica here and left it as a shell. They built with whatever was at hand – the walls contain ancient stones from the amphitheatre and gravestones from an abandoned 9th-century Jewish cemetery. Three religions and a thousand years of building history in a single wall.
Jewish catacombs
On the Colle della Maddalena are Jewish catacombs of the 4th to 6th centuries with more than seventy inscriptions in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, along with incised menorahs, lulavim and shofars. They count among the most important records of late antique Judaism in southern Italy. Christian catacombs lie next to them. Access is only possible with a guide, so ask in advance at the archaeological park or the town hall.
Castello Pirro del Balzo and the archaeological museum
The four-towered castle of 1470 stands in the middle of the town. In its semi-underground galleries the National Archaeological Museum displays finds from prehistory to late antiquity.
Co-cathedral of Sant’Andrea and the Fontana Angioina
The church was built between 1470 and 1502 in the time of the Del Balzo, with three naves and pointed arches. In front of the town the fountain of 1298 still runs, with Roman lions and fragments of columns built into it.
Casa di Orazio
The semicircular Roman structure in reticulated masonry is popularly called the „house of Horace“. It in fact belongs to a Roman bath or hall complex; it is not the poet’s birthplace. It is a fine thing to look at all the same.
Getting there from Matera
About 87 to 90 kilometres by car, roughly an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half depending on the route, mainly on the SS 655 Bradanica and then on country roads. Venosa is hard to reach for a day trip by public transport: buses require changes and the station „Venosa-Maschito“ lies outside the town. Without a hire car, it is better to visit on a guided tour.
In town, park at the edge of the centre. It is better to drive to the archaeological park than to walk.
Best time to visit
April to June and September to October. At the height of summer the excavation site, without shade, gets very hot. Fixed dates in the year: the patronal feast of San Rocco on 16 August and the Madonna delle Grazie on the first Sunday in July. In spring, usually in late April, the local grammar school hosts the Certamen Horatianum, an international Horace translation competition. October and November bring the Aglianico harvest – a good time to visit a winery.
A day in Venosa
The castle with its museum and the old town in the morning, a break on the piazza at midday, the abbey and the archaeological park in the afternoon, and the catacombs at the end if a guided visit is possible. With more time, add Melfi: the two towns are only 23 kilometres apart and together make the classic Vulture day.
