170 Route 13. BENEVENTO. From Ancona
side of the Apennines. The villages from which the stations
derive their names, are all situated on the summits of high
mountains on both sides of the deep and narrow valley of the
Cervaro, or Valle di Bovino.
From Savignano to S. Spirito passengers are conveyed by om¬
nibus (3'/2 hrs., see p. 169), which at first run 1 hr. on the
former post-road from Foggia to Ariano (p. 13), then, turning to
the r., through a wild and mountainous country, traverse a high
mountain ridge to the railway-station of S. Spirito. A long tun¬
nel is next passed; then stat. Montecalvo; on a high mountain
to the 1. the town of the same name (6400 inhab.). Past stat.
Apice the valley of the Calore is entered, which is twice crossed
by well-built stone bridges. Stat. Ponte-Valentino ; then
Benevento (Loeanda di Gaeta, in the Piazza, dirty), situated
on an eminence, enclosed by the two rivers Sabato and Calore,
capital of the former papal province (pop. 16,484), with narrow
and dirty streets , which, however, are gradually undergoing im¬
provement.
Beneventum, according to tradition founded by Diomedes, or by the son
of Ulysses and Circe, was originally termed Maleventvm, an inauspicious
name which was changed when it became a Roman colony B. C. 208, and
eventually one of the most important places in S. Italy. It was situated
on the Via Appia. In the 6th cent. A. D. Beneventum became the seat of
a powerful Lombard duchy. In the 11th cent, the emperor Henry III.
ceded it to the pope Leo IX., since which period it has belonged to Rome,
with the exception of the short-lived sovereignty of Napoleon I., who gran¬
ted it to Talleyrand.
* Trajan's Triumphal Arch, or porta aurea, dating from A. D.
114, is one of the most beautiful and best preserved Roman
structures in S. Italy. It now serves as a town-gate. It con¬
sists of a lofty marble arch with Corinthian pillars, covered with
rich bas-reliefs representing the Dacian wars of the emperor and
his apotheosis.
Interesting walk along the Town Walls, which, as well as the
town itself, contain numerous relics of antiquity. The Castle,
E. of the town, erected in the 12th cent., is occupied by the
government offices and a prison.
The "Cathedral, dating from the 12th cent., is a beautiful
edifice in the Lombard-Saracen style. In front of it stands a
small Egyptian obelisk of red granite, covered with hieroglyphics,
which once appertained to a temple of Isis, whose worship, to¬
gether with that of other oriental deities, was introduced here
during the latter period of paganism. Built into the walls of the
clock-tower is a bas-relief of Greek marble, representing the Caly-
donian boar decked for the sacrifice. The wild boar still figures
in the arms of Benevento. The principal door of the cathedral
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