Santa Sofia Monumental Complex in Benevento

In the Benevento historic centre, not far from the Arch of Trajan, there is the Santa Sofia monumental complex that includes the Santa Sofia Lombard Church, the monastery with its beautiful cloister housing the Museo del Sannio (Sannio Museum), the fontana Chiaromonte (Chiaromonte fountain) and the bell tower.

Once you get to Piazza Santa Sofia you will immediately notice the fontana Chiaromonte with its obelisk, that was requested by the prince of Benevento, Talleyrand, and dedicated to Papa Pio VII after 1815.

Behind the fountain, there is the Santa Sofia Church, that was built in the 8th century as requested by the Lombard prince Arechi II, proving the Germanic domination so much so that it is in the “Longobardi in Italia: i luoghi del potere” (Lombards in Italy: the sites of domination) site list and in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2011.

Due to earthquakes, the Santa Sofia church has undergone several renovations, mainly in Baroque-style. The facade has a Romanesque gate, whereas on the inside there are six columns  supporting the central dome placed as a hexagon at the centre of a decagon made of eight pillars and two columns. A very peculiar disposition at that time.

Attached to the church there is the monastery that was built around 1140, with a Romanesque-Arabic style cloister that is a true gem. Inside the monastery there is the scriptorium that is the birthplace of the Benevento amanuensis writing that was used all over South Italy. Nowadays it houses part of the collections belonging to the Museo del Sannio.

Last but not least, attached to the monastery there is the bell tower with an epigraph written in Lombard characters describing the construction and story of the structure.