Montescaglioso (
Montese
Montese ( Frignanese: ) is a town in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
During World War II, the town was liberated by Brazilian forces on 17 April 1945, after three days of battle against German forces.
There are neighborhoods in th ...
: ) 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
The province of Matera ( it, Provincia di Matera; Materano: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Matera. It has an area of and a total population of 201,133; the city Matera has a population of 61,204. T ...
,
Basilicata
it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman)
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, 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 ...
.
The economy is mostly based on agriculture, including production of renowned oil and wine, as well as traditional food.
Historically, it was the centre of a county in the
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
.
History
The first settlements in the area date from the 7th century BC, belonging to the
Apuli
The Apuli or Biefi were a Dacian tribe centered at the Dacian town ''Apulon'' (Latin '' Apulum'') near what is now Alba Iulia in Transylvania, Romania.
''Apuli'' has clear resemblance to Apulia, the ancient southeastern Italy region, which is b ...
Italic tribe. The original nucleus of Montescaglioso grew substantially in the following centuries, thanks to trade with the nearby
Greek town
Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.
History
The oldest Greek dominated neighborhood outside of Greece were probably the Fener in Istanb ...
of
Metaponto
Metaponto is a small town of about 1,000 people in the province of Matera, Basilicata, Italy. Administratively it is a frazione of Bernalda.
History
The town was built by the ancient Greeks to defend Sybaris from the growth of Taranto. A 1 k ...
. When the latter decayed in
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
, Montescaglioso further increased in importance. Archaeological findings include a large tuff wall dating from the 3rd century BC.
After the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Montescaglioso is mentioned first only in early medieval times. A
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
stronghold, it was captured by 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 ...
after the year 1000, and housed an important
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
community. Under the
Angevin
Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to:
*County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France
**Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou
**Counts and Dukes of Anjou
* House of Ingelger, a Frank ...
and
Aragonese dynasties of the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
, it belonged in sequence to the D'Avalos,
Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following:
*Angel ...
, Loffredo, Grillo and Cattaneo feudal families.
Territorial abbacy of San Michele Arcangelo di Montescaglioso
The Benedictine
Territorial Abbey
A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Ca ...
(i.e. exerting diocesan authority over itself and the surrounding territory, instead of resorting under a bishop) of San Michele Arcangelo, exists at least from 1078 and was probably built in the 5th century. The Norman lord
Humphrey of Hauteville and his son Rudolph made large donations to the abbey, which flourished until the 15th century. Afterwards it decayed due to numerous wars ravaging the country in those years. The Abbey Church (12th century), dedicated to St. Michael, has a notable portal and a Norman-style bell tower with
mullioned window
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s. Renewed starting from 1590, it received a cylindrical cupola in 1650.
It lost its autonomous prelature status on 5 August 1910, when it was united (as a mere title) with the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Acerenza–Matera
The Archdiocese of Acerenza ( la, Archidioecesis Acheruntina) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in southern Italy, included in the provinces of Lecce and Potenza. It has existed as a diocese since the fourth or fifth centuries. In th ...
, but since its split the abbacy is united with the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Matera
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina ( la, Archidioecesis Materanensis-Montis Pelusii) in Basilicata, Italy, has existed under this name since 1986. The archbishop is seated at Matera Cathedral. (Irsina Cathedral is a co-cathedral). ...
.
Other sights
* Mother Church (1776), rebuilt in late Baroque style over a pre-existing medieval structure. In the aisles are four canvasses by
Mattia Preti
Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John.
Life
Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Ca ...
. There is also a 15th-century panel of the ''Madonna with Child''.
* Church of St. Stephen (11th century)
* Church of St. Lucy (11th century)
* Church of ''Madonna della Muova'' (11th century) and ''Madonna delle Grazie'' (1065).
* 16th century churches of St. Roch, St. Augustin, '.
See also
*
Humphrey of Hauteville
*
Robert, Count of Montescaglioso Robert (died July 1080) was the first Norman count of Montescaglioso.
Robert had a brother, Geoffrey of Conversano. Their mother was a sister of Duke Robert Guiscard.
Along with his brother Geoffrey and his cousins, Abelard and Herman, Robert wa ...
*
Rudolf, Count of Montescaglioso Rudolf (also ''Rudolph'', ''Ralph'', or ''Raoul'', called ''Maccabeus'', ''Maccabeo'', or ''Maccabees''; died 1108) was the second Norman count of Montescaglioso from the death of his father Robert in 1080.
During the three-year period between the ...
*
Henry, Count of Montescaglioso
References
External links
*
GigaCatholic, on the territorial abbeyTourism and most important sights*
ttp://www.parcomurgia.it/index.asp "Murgia Materana" ParkGAL BradanicaCEA
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Cities and towns in Basilicata
Hilltowns in Basilicata