Brienza is a town and

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

in the

province of Potenza The province of Potenza (; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of 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 are 100 ''comuni'' (singular: ''com ...

, in the Southern Italian region of

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

History

Brienza was founded around a castle in the 7th century AD, during the Lombard rule of the

Duchy of Benevento A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a mass migration of Brienza residents to the Americas, most notably to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, in the United States. The Brienza immigrants in Argentina settled in the Mataderos (Nueva Chicago) neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The Argentine community retains a cultural affinity with Brienza through Asociacion Italiana Brienza.

Main sights

Caracciolo's Castle on top of a rocky spur dominates the Melandro valley. It dates from the Angevin rule in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially 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 established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

; now only a ruin, rises sheer from the river Pergola. Restored since the 20th century, the manor retains fragments of its original flooring and two statues; it is now used for cultural events.

People

Mario Pagano, a philosopher, politician, lawyer, was born in Brienza on 8 December 1748.

Cuisine

Lucanian Caciocavallo Podolico is one of the most characteristic cheeses of Basilicata. It is only produced with whole milk from the Podolic breed of cow which feeds mainly in the pastures. The Podolic breed is reared in the wild throughout the southern Apennine mountains. In the Basilicata region the cheese is produced in the province of Potenza (at Brienza, Forenza, Viggiano, Atella, San Fele, Calvello, Pescopagano, Pietrapertosa, Tolve and Lagonegro), and in the province of Matera (at Accettura, Salandra, Stigliano and Ferrandina). For some time now a process has been undertaken with the purpose, of achieving the European Dop mark for Lucanian Caciocavallo Podolico and which has already led to the drafting of production regulations. Lucanian Caciocavallo Podolico is a stringy cheese. The milk, which comes entirely from the morning's milking, must be processed within 24 hours. The whole process and the seasoning are governed by strict regulations. The cheeses are characteristically pear-shaped, hung “by the neck” between the roof beams to mature. The bouquet is that of rosemary and heather.

References

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