Day 4: Benevento

The morning starts out overcast and cool as we leave the hotel and get in the car for a driving tour of Benevento.

Much of Benevento’s “centro storico” is closed to traffic and many of the streets outside the center have restrictions–either for bus lanes or a one way pattern. This makes what seems to be a simple drive much more problematic. Our first destination is the Ponte Leproso, a bridge built by the Romans over the Sabato River which until very recently had been carrying car traffic. We wander around the center for a while, stopping to look at the Bue Apis–a stone statue of a cow that was housed in the local Egyptian temple of Isis. We find the Ponte Leproso and it is quite impressive for a 2,0o0 year old structure. We walk across and admire the stone work and the pavement design; the view of the hills surrounding Benevento is quite striking.

Next stop is the Roman theater that is still used for theater and cocerts. We walk around on the stage and climb to the upper levels. We are the only people here.

The grounds are strewn with pieces of columns, old inscriptions, mask carvings and animals…apparently just waiting to be put back in place.

At the bakery next door, we buy a delicious loaf of flaky focaccia with an herb flavoring to tide us over until lunch. We then make a grand tour of Benevento by car climbing up the hill to the top of the town, circling the public gardens, cruising around some of the newer residential areas and office buildings before pulling into the large public parking lot close to the “centro storico”. We make our way up through the back streets until we reach the main drag, Corso Garibaldi.

We continue walking past Trajan’s Arch to the Church of Santa Sofia at the top of street.

Santa Sofia is said to have a unique six sided floor plan and interesting decorations inside but unfortunately for us, it is closed for restorations…”in restauro”.

It’s now time for lunch and as we head down the hill on a back side street, we come face to face with a small trattoria–the Trattoria Il Cinghiale–that has an appealing (and very reasonably-priced) menu displayed outside. We are the only customers for lunch but we have an excellent meal, cooked and served by the young woman who is the proprietor. Diana has a plate of the fantastic local mozzarella and prosciutto while I have a “caprese” salad that was made in heaven….tasty tomatoes, the fantastic mozzarella, wonderful olive oil. Diana has a pasta dish made with fresh tomatoes and basil which was as good as it was simple and my pasta with sausage and porcini mushroom was outstanding. No wine and no room for seconds or dessert…..but we talk seriously of trying to come back for another meal. Bill for the meal was Euro 23.00 (about $34.00 US)–a true bargain.

Later in the afternoon, we get in the car and take a drive in the country…we plan to head for Avellino but take the wrong road and end up driving to the north and east through a very pleasant rolling landscape. The first town we hit, Pietrelcina, turns out to be the home town of Padre Pio, who has an enthusiastic world wide following. Many Catholics expect him to become a saint and he’s revered as such. The town has turned into a major pilgrimage destination and there is a large visitors center, a museum, his childhood home is open for visiting and there are many hotels, restaurants and gift shops. The town looks to be very prosperous due to all the visitors.

As we continue on our way, the landscape becomes increasingly hilly and dramatic and we are struck by the intensive agricultural activity. We see tobacco growing in the fields–some plants already harvested, others with leaves still on the plants. There are countless tobacco sheds with the leaves hung to dry…it turns out that the Benevento area is a major tobacco market. In addition to olive trees and vineyards, there are extensive fields of bright red tomatoes, some being harvested as we drive past. Other fields are planted with hot and bell peppers and we see apple, orange and pomegranate trees with fruit heavy on the branches. And there are sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and chickens….it is quite an agricultural show set in the scenic countryside.

When dinnertime rolls around, we are not ready for a full meal so we decide to have pizza…since we are not far from Naples, we figure it will be pretty good. We get in the car and, depending on the GPS, navigate our way to da Rodolfo, in a residential neighborhood a couple of miles away. Somehow the GPS and Benevento don’t always work well together but, after a bit of a struggle, we end up on the right street and find the pizzeria. The pizza hits the spot and we make it back to the hotel without difficulty.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Museo di Sannio and Benevento’s Duomo.