Marsico Nuovo ( 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 ...

'' of the

province of Potenza The Province of Potenza ( it, Provincia di Potenza; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There a ...

in the

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

region of southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was the seat of the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s of

Grumentum Grumentum ( grc, Γρούμεντον) was an ancient Roman city in the centre of Lucania, in what is now the ''comune'' of Grumento Nova, c. south of Potenza by the direct road through Anxia, and by the '' Via Herculia'', at the point of diver ...

. It is an agricultural centre in the

Agri river The Agri is a river in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. In ancient times it was known as ''Aciris'' ( grc, Ἄκιρις, Akiris). The source of the river is in the Lucan Apennines north of Monte Volturino and west of Calvello in the ...

valley.

History

The city's origins are obscure, but, after the destruction by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

of the ancient ''Grumentum'', the town grew in importance, and became the seat of a county under the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

(11th century). Its most famous count was

Sylvester of Marsico Sylvester (c. 1100 – 1162), count of Marsico ( it), was a Norman nobleman of the Kingdom of Sicily. Second son of Godfrey of Ragusa, second eldest son of Roger I of Sicily, he was not a young man when he first rose to importance in the realm. H ...

. It was subsequently ruled by the Hauteville, the Guarna and

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 ...

families. The last count from the latter, Ferrante Sanseverino, was exiled in 1552 and his fiefs acquired by the Kingdom of Naples.

Main sights

Among the churches in the town are: * Cathedral of San Giorgio * San Gianuario * San Michele Arcangelo *

Madonna del Carmine Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount C ...

* Santi Maria di Constantinopoli * San Rocco, contains arts from a destroyed church of All Saints.

History

Main sights

References

See also