Telese Terme, called simply Telese until 1991,
/ref> is a city, '' comune'' (municipality) and former episcopal seat in the Province of Benevento
The Province of Benevento ( it, Provincia di Benevento) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento.
Geography
The province has an area of 2,071 km2, and, , a total population of 279,308. There are 7 ...
, in the Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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region of southern Italy. It is located in the valley of the Calore, well known for its sulfuric hot springs.
Etymology
Telesia is an old word for the gem Sapphire.
History
Telese was an ancient Samnite (Italic) city, known as T(h)elesia. The city was captured by Hannibal in 217 BCE; later, the victor Roman general Scipio Africanus founded a Roman colony there.
In 460 was established a Diocese of Telese
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de' Goti ( la, Dioecesis Cerretana-Thelesina-Sanctae Agathae Gothorum), in Campania, Italy, has existed since 1986, when the Diocese of Sant'Agata de' Goti was suppressed, and i ...
/ Thelesina (Latin adjective).
Having fallen into decay after the Gothic War it was conquered by the Longobards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
, becoming part of the Lombard Duchy of Benevento as seat of a gastaldry
A gastald (Latin ''gastaldus'' or ''castaldus''; Italian ''gastaldo'' or ''guastaldo'') was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne (a gastaldate, ''gastaldia'' or ''castaldia'') with civil, martial, and judicial powers ...
(district).
The city was destroyed in the years 847 and 860, by the Saracens, and again in the 11th century, during the war between King Roger II of Sicily and the Norman counts of the southern Italian mainland.
A new Telesia was built; however, it was again pulverized in 1349, this time by an earthquake.
Its former cathedral ''cattedrale Santa Croce'', dedicated to the Holy Cross, now in ruins, was decommissioned after the bishops transferred their see to nearby Cerreto Sannita
Cerreto Sannita (; nap, label=Campanian, Cerrìte ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 60 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km northwest of Benevento.
Cerreto Sa ...
, yet the see retained the alternative title Diocese of Telese as well, even after a further merger into the Diocese of Cerreto Sannita–Telese–Sant’Agata de’ Goti
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de' Goti ( la, Dioecesis Cerretana-Thelesina-Sanctae Agathae Gothorum), in Campania, Italy, has existed since 1986, when the Diocese of Sant'Agata de' Goti was suppressed, and i ...
.
In 1883, after the Unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
, thermal bath
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
s were built, hence the current full name Telese ''Terme'' since 1991. Telese became an independent commune in 1934.
Main sights
It possesses remains of walls in , of a total length of over a mile; two inscriptions of the Republican period record the erection of towers. The remains of baths () and of an amphitheatre still exist; the city was supplied with water by an aqueduct. There are sulphur springs in the vicinity, which may have supplied the baths.
See also
* List of Catholic dioceses in Italy
The following is the List of the Catholic dioceses in Italy. , the Catholic Church in Italy is divided into sixteen ecclesiastical regions. While they are similar to the 20 civil regions of the Italian state, there are some differences. Most ecc ...
References
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