What is Sant'Agata de' Goti known for?

The town stands on a volcanic tuff spur between two gorges; the back walls of the cliffside houses form a single vertical face. Sant'Agata de' Goti Falanghina DOC and Aglianico DOC riserva are grown on the slopes around the town below Monte Taburno. Romanesque church consecrated 1110, with the oldest cosmatesque marble pavement in continental southern Italy.

Where is Sant'Agata de' Goti?

Sant'Agata de' Goti is a comune in the province of Benevento, Campania region of Italy, about 46 kilometers from Napoli.

Campania · Benevento

Sant'Agata de' Goti

A medieval town built on a tuff cliff between two gorges, the houses standing flush with the edge over the Isclero river below.

46 km / 29 mi

Nearest hub (Napoli)

10,282

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Sant'Agata de' Goti sitson a tuff spur between the Martorano and Riello gorges, thirty-five kilometers northeast of Naples and west of Monte Taburno. The houses on the edge of the centro are built flush with the cliff, their back walls forming a vertical face above the Isclero river thirty meters below. The Samnites founded Saticula here in the sixth century BC; the current name comes from the Goths who held the town in the sixth century AD, then from Saint Agatha of Sicily as titular of the cathedral. The Lombards of Benevento, the Normans, and the Angevins each rebuilt the castle on the western edge. The Duomo dell'Assunta in the centro keeps a twelfth-century crypt under a Baroque rebuild. The commune is a Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club Italiano, holds the Sant'Agata de' Goti Aglianico DOC and Falanghina DOC, and is part of the Città della Nocciola network for the Nocciola di Avellino DOP grown around it.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello Ducale
Medieval fortress on the western edge of the cliff, rebuilt by the Lombards, the Normans and the Angevins, now a residence with restored rooms.
Duomo dell'Assunta
Tenth-century cathedral with a twelfth-century crypt under a Baroque rebuild, columns reused from a Roman temple of Demeter.
Chiesa dell'Annunziata
Late Gothic church with a fifteenth-century fresco of the Annunciation and a wooden ceiling carved with the symbols of Christ's passion.
Chiesa di San Menna
Romanesque church consecrated in 1110 with a cosmatesque pavement of polychrome marble, the oldest in continental southern Italy.
Centro storico sul tufo
Cliff-edge old town where the houses are built flush with the tuff face above the Isclero river thirty meters below.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through early June and September into October are the strongest months. The valley around Sant'Agata greens, the Aglianico and Falanghina vineyards bud and ripen, and the cliff houses stay cool when the floor of the gorge heats up. July and August can pass thirty-five degrees on the Isclero plain, though the centro on the tuff catches more breeze. November through March is quiet. The Duomo and San Menna keep their daily hours, the Castello Ducale runs on weekend openings, and the wine cellars around the commune stay open by appointment through the vinification months. The Nocciola di Avellino harvest cluster runs from late August into September.