Miglionico (
Lucano: ) is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
province of Matera, in
Basilicata
it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman)
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,
southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
.
Main sights
*The massive Castello del Malconsiglio ("Castle of the Bad Council"), built in the 8th-9th century and enlarged in 1110 and in the 15th century.
*The Basilica of ''Santa Maria Maggiore''.
History
Despite the legend assigning its foundation to the famous Greek wrestler
Milo of Croton (whence the name), Miglionico was most likely founded by the
Oenotrians
The Oenotrians (Οἴνωτρες, meaning "tribe led by Oenotrus" or "people from the land of vines - Οἰνωτρία") were an ancient Italic people who inhabited a territory in Southern Italy from Paestum to southern Calabria. By the sixth ce ...
, a local Italic tribe. After the Greek colonization, it was held by the
Lucani, followed by the
Samnites
The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...
until 458 BC, when it was conquered by the
Romans.
In the Middle Ages the story of Miglionico was strongly connected to that of its large castle, which was held by the
Hauteville Normans and then by the
Sanseverino * Sanseverino (family): The Sanseverino are one of the historical families most famous in the Kingdom of Naples and all of Italy, having 300 strongholds, 40 counties, nine marquisates, twelve duchies and ten principalities primarily distributed in ...
. After the latter where slaughtered by order of
Frederick II (1245), Miglionico was assigned to his son
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
. After the latter's fall, however, the Sanseverino were re-instated, holding the town until the abolition of feudalism.
References
External links
Miglionico Selected Civil Records
Cities and towns in Basilicata
Hilltowns in Basilicata
Castles in Italy
{{Basilicata-geo-stub