Stigliano ( Lucano: ,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Stilianum'') 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 Matera The province of 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 of Matera has a population of 61,204. The province contains ...

, in the

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 ...

region of southern

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. The name is likely of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

origin, stemming from " Stylianos", a Greek name with a Latin ending.

History

The town was founded by the Lucani, and later was conquered by the

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colony 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&nbs ...

. During the classical imperial era of the

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, the town was owned by the

Hostilii 250px, Tullus Hostilius defeating the army of Veii and Fidenae, modern fresco. The gens Hostilia was an ancient family at Ancient Rome">Rome, which traced its origin to the time of Romulus. The most famous member of the gens was Tullus Hostilius ...

family. After the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

fall, it fell under the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. It was part of the medieval

Principality of Salerno The Principality of Salerno () was a Middle Ages, medieval Mezzogiorno, Southern Italian state, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war. It was centred on the port city of Salerno. Although it owed alle ...

. In 1070, it was given to the bishops of Tricarico. In 1274 King

Charles I of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

gave it as a fief to Giacomo di Bosciniano. The powerful Neapolitan family of the Carafa acquired it in 1289. In 1556 the whole fief passed under the Spanish Dukes the Medina, who made it the capital of the Basilicata province. In 1806, after the abolition of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

, Stigliano went under the direct administration of 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 ...

and later the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

and, in 1861, became part of the newly unified

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. During the Fascist era, dissidents were often sent to internal exile in Stigliano.

Main sights

*Convent of St. Anthony. It has a 17th-century

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

façade with a large bell tower with an Arabic-style dome. The interior is home to 17th-century paintings and of a precious wooden crucifix. *Mother Church, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. It has numerous works of art, including a 16th-century

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...

attributed to Simone da Firenze, with a statue of the Madonna with paintings of Saints, Angels and Father God. The structure has a notable wooden vault with cupolas in the two aisles. Also, peculiar are the 19th century carved wooden choir, the frescoed

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

and a statue of the ''Vergine Assunta'' donated to the church in 1522. *The castle and remains of the walls.

Twin towns

* Gigean,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* Cardano al Campo,

References

Sources

*
{{authority control Cities and towns in Basilicata