Tricarico


Tricarico is a town and comune in the province of Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy.
It is home to one of the best preserved medieval historical centres in Lucania.

Etymology

The origin of the name Tricarico is unknown. It might derive from the Greek τρία treis and cara. That is "having three heads". According to a slightly different hypothesis, it could have originally been Triacricon, deriving from the Greek 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 castle of Saracena in the north, the site of a 9th-10th c Byzantine Rocca fortificata in the south, improved during the 11th-12th c by the Normans, and then, during the 13th c, by the Hohenstaufen, 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.

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. Later it was an Arab stronghold. The terrace gardens, of Arabic origin, are still in use today. In 968 Tricarico was conquered by the Byzantine Empire, and then, in 1048, it became a Norman fortified town.
In the 15th century, there was a Jewish 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:
The archaeological area of Civita is situated outside the city. It includes a Roman 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.