Tricarico ( ; ) 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 ...

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 ...

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. It is home to one of the best preserved medieval historical centres in

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy, corresponding to the modern-day region of Basilicata. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and ...

Tricarico Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

Etymology

The origin of the name Tricarico is unknown. It might derive from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''treis'' ("three") and ''cara'' (''head''/''skull'' in Hellenistic-era Greek: η κάρα, τό κάρα, η κάρη). That is "''having three heads''". According to a slightly different hypothesis, it could have originally been ''Triacricon'', deriving from the

words '' tria''/''treis'' and ''acron''/''acra'', which during Antiquity and Early Middle Ages meant both an "apex/summit", and a "citadel", with ''Triacricon'' thus meaning a city made by connecting "''three citadels''". These three ''acra''/citadels were no other than the site of the 9th c

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

castle of ''Saracena'' in the north, the site of a 9th-10th c

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 ...

''Rocca fortificata'' in the south, improved during the 11th-12th c by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

, and then, during the 13th c, by the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

, and also the site of the 14th c ''Palazzo Ducale'' in the middle. Probably the three sites were simultaneously fortified even before the successive

occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment * Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

History

Although of ancient origin, the first news documented about the town dates to 849, when it was a Lombard county included in the gastaldate of

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. Later (9th century - late 10th century) it was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

stronghold. The terrace gardens, of Arabic origin, are still in use today. In 968 Tricarico was conquered by the

Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, and then, in 1048, it became a Norman fortified town. In the 15th century, there was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish community.

Main sights

The roads and alleys of the historical center reflect the Arabic quarters of the Ràbata and the Saracena. Sights in the town include: *Cathedral of the ''Assunta'', built by

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

. Here, in 1383, Louis I of Anjou was crowned king of Naples. *Norman tower, with a height of . *Towers of Ràbata and Saracena. *Ducal Palace, now home to the archaeological museum *Sanctuary of Madonna di Fonti The archaeological area of Civita is situated outside the city. It includes a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fortified center that extends for approximately and consists of stone buildings with squared blocks, fortified with monumental doors. In the interior, some rooms have mosaic pavements over 2,500 years old. Also present is the ''Cerra del Cedro'' archaeological site, inhabited from as early as the 6th century to the 3rd century BC.

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Basilicata