What is Benevento known for?

Roman triumphal arch of 114-117, one of the best-preserved in the empire, marking the start of the Via Traiana to Brindisi. Santa Sofia church, founded around 760 by Duke Arechis II, inscribed in 2011 as part of the Longobards in Italy serial site. Yellow herbal liqueur distilled in Benevento since 1860 by the Alberti family, gave its name to Italy's leading literary prize founded in 1947.

Benevento is a comune in the province of Benevento, Campania region of Italy, about 75 kilometers from Salerno.

Campania · Benevento

Benevento

Sannio capital at the Calore-Sabato confluence, with a 114 AD Trajan arch and a Lombard rotunda on the UNESCO list.

75 km / 47 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

56,201

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Benevento sitsat the confluence of the Calore and Sabato rivers, fifty-five kilometers northeast of Naples, the historic capital of the Sannio. The Romans built the Arco di Traiano between 114 and 117 to mark the new Via Traiana to Brindisi; the marble reliefs still read as a programmatic statement of imperial policy under Trajan, and the arch is among the best-preserved in the empire. The Lombard Duchy of Benevento, founded in 571, left the small circular Chiesa di Santa Sofia around 760, inscribed in 2011 as part of the UNESCO serial site Longobards in Italy, Places of Power. The city centre still carries that double layer. Walking from the cathedral down Corso Garibaldi, past the Hortus Conclusus by Mimmo Paladino, ends at the arch. The countryside around the city is Aglianico del Taburno wine and Strega liqueur, distilled here since 1860.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Benevento fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Arco di Traiano
Roman triumphal arch built 114-117 to mark the Via Traiana to Brindisi, with marble reliefs of Trajan's domestic and military policy, among the empire's best-preserved.
Chiesa di Santa Sofia
Lombard circular church built around 760 under Duke Arechis II, inscribed by UNESCO in 2011 as part of Longobards in Italy, Places of Power.
Teatro Romano
Roman theatre begun under Hadrian and completed under Caracalla, capacity for ten thousand spectators, still used for summer performances.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria de Episcopio
Romanesque cathedral with twelfth-century bell tower built into ancient Roman masonry, rebuilt after wartime bombing and reopened in the 1960s.
Hortus Conclusus
Permanent open-air installation by Mimmo Paladino completed in 1992 in the cloister of San Domenico, sculptures set against the medieval wall.
Museo del Sannio
Provincial museum in the former Santa Sofia abbey, with Samnite finds, Roman sculpture and a section on the Temple of Isis brought from Egypt under Domitian.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the city's dry months, with mild evenings along the Calore and the Roman amphitheatre's summer programme starting in June. July and August push the inland Sannio past thirty-five degrees, and the old town empties between three and six in the afternoon while the riverbanks become the local refuge. November through March is wet, foggy at dawn, with rain a constant in February. The Strega Prize is awarded in early July at Villa Giulia in Rome, but the related city events run through the early summer, and the patronal feast of San Bartolomeo falls on 24 August.