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{{Redirect|Venusia|the genus of moth|Venusia (moth)}}
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{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Venosa
| official_name       = Città di Venosa
| native_name         = 
| image_skyline       = Venosa.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = View of Venosa
| image_shield        = Venosa-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| shield_size         = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|40|57|42.37|N|15|48|53.23|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Basilicata]]
| province            = [[Province of Potenza|Potenza]] (PZ)
| frazioni            = 
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = Francesco Mollica ([[Action (Italian political party)|Azione]])
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 170.39
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 11863
| population_as_of    = 31 December 2015
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Venosini
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 415
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = [[Saint Roch|St Roch]]<br>{{nowrap|(formerly [[St Felix of Thibiuca]])}}
| day                 = August 16
| postal_code         = 85029
| area_code           = 0972
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.venosa.pz.it}}
| footnotes           = 
}}
'''Venosa''' ([[Neapolitan language|Lucano]]: {{lang|nap|Vënòsë}} {{IPA|nap|və'noʊzə|}}) is a town and ''[[comune]]'' in the [[province of Potenza]], in the southern Italian region of [[Basilicata]], in the [[Vulture area]]. It is bounded by the comuni of [[Barile]], [[Ginestra]], [[Lavello]], [[Maschito]], [[Montemilone]], [[Palazzo San Gervasio]], [[Rapolla]] and [[Spinazzola]]. It is one of {{Lang|it|[[I Borghi più belli d'Italia]]}} ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/basilicata/|title=Basilicata|access-date=1 August 2023|language=it}}</ref>

==History==
===Antiquity===
The city was known as '''Venusia''' ("City of [[Venus (goddess)|Venus]]") to the Romans, who credited its establishment—as '''Aphrodisia''' ("City of [[Aphrodite]]")—to the [[Homer]]ic hero [[Diomedes]]. He was said to have moved to [[Magna Graecia]] in southern [[Italy]] following the [[Trojan War]], seeking a life of peace and building the town and its temples to appease the anger of Aphrodite for the destruction of her beloved [[Troy]].
[[File:Testimonianza romana per le strade di Venosa.jpg|thumb|left|Funerary inscription from the 1st century AD, relating to the burial of a couple of freedmen]]
The town was taken by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] after the [[Third Samnite War]] in 291 BC and became a [[Roman colony|colony]] for its strategical position between [[Apulia]] and [[Lucania]]. No fewer than 20,000 men were sent there, owing to its military importance. 

Throughout the [[Hannibal]]ic wars, it remained faithful to [[Rome]], and had a further contingent of colonists sent in 200 BC to replace its losses in the war. In 190 BC the [[Appian Way]] was extended to the town. Some coins of Venusia of this period exist. 

It took part in the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]], and was recaptured by [[Quintus Metellus Pius]]; it then became a ''[[municipium]]'', but in 43 BC its territory was assigned to the veterans of the [[triumvir]]s, and it became a colony once more. 

[[Horace]] was born here in 65 BC. His father's estate in Venusia was confiscated by Augustus after his victory in the [[War of Actium|civil wars]] for the settlement of veterans, like many others throughout Italy.

It remained an important place under the Empire as a station on the [[Via Appia]], though [[Theodor Mommsen]]'s description of it as having branch roads to [[Aequum Tuticum]] and [[Potentia]], and Kiepert's maps annexed to the volume, do not agree with one another.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Venusia|volume=27|page=1014}}</ref>

=== Late antiquity ===
During [[Late antiquity|Late Antiquity]], Venosa housed the second-largest Jewish community in Italy, following Rome. While specific founding dates are elusive, evidence suggests Jews resided in Venosa for centuries.<ref name=":0" />

The Jews of Venosa initially buried their dead in [[Jewish catacombs of Venosa|a set of catacombs]], likely built and used between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. When the catacombs fell out of use, local Jews began burying their deceased on the hill atop the catacombs, with some tombstones dating back to the 9th century still visible, repurposed into the walls of a church nearby. Inscriptions, primarily in Greek and Latin, exhibit a transition to [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], while artistic themes show a preference for Jewish symbols such as the [[Temple menorah|menorah]]. Despite this distinct identity, the community actively engaged with broader society, with Jewish officials holding public positions in the town.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rutgers |first=Leonard V. |title=The Cambridge History of Judaism, Volume IV: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period |last2=Bradbury |first2=Scott |year=2006 |editor-last=Katz |editor-first=Steven T. |series=The Cambridge History of Judaism |pages=499-502 |chapter=19: The Diaspora, C. 235 – 638}}</ref>

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], Venusia was sacked by the [[Heruls]], and in 493 AD it was turned into the administrative centre of the area in the [[Ostrogoth]]ic kingdom of Italy, although later this role was moved to [[Acerenza]].

The [[Lombards]] made it a [[gastald]]ate in 570/590.

===Middle Ages===

In 842 Venosa was sacked by the [[Saracens]], who were later ousted by [[Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Louis II]].

Next rulers in the 9th century were the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], who lost control of it after their defeat in 1041 by the [[Italo-Normans|Normans]]. Under the latter, Venosa was assigned to [[Drogo of Hauteville]]. In 1133 the town was sacked and set on fire by [[Roger II of Sicily]].

His later successor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] had a castle built here where a Lombard outpost existed before, which was to house the Treasury (Ministry of Finances) of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]].

Frederick's son, [[Manfred of Sicily]], was perhaps born here in 1232. After the latter's fall, the [[Hohenstaufen]]s were replaced by the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevines]]; King [[Charles of Anjou]] assigned Venosa as a county to his son Robert.

===Modern era===
After a series of different feudal lords, Venosa became a possession of the [[Orsini family|Orsini]] in 1453. Count [[Pirro Del Balzo]], who had married Donata Orsini, built a new castle (1460–1470) and a cathedral.

Then, during [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese]] rule, the Gesualdo family, which included the notorious prince and musician [[Gesualdo da Venosa|Carlo Gesualdo]], took control in 1561.

Despite the plague that had reduced its population from the 13,000 of 1503 to 6,000, Venosa had a flourishing cultural life under the Gesualdos: apart from the famous Carlo, other relevant figures of the period include the poet [[Luigi Tansillo]] (1510–1580) and the jurist [[Giovanni Battista De Luca]] (1614–1683).

Venosa took part in the [[Masaniello|revolt of Masaniello]] in 1647. The Gesualdos were in turn followed by the [[Ludovisi (family)|Ludovisi]] and the [[House of Caracciolo|Caracciolo]] families.

Home to a traditionally strong republican tradition, Venosa had a role in the peasant revolts and the [[Carbonari]] movement of the early 19th century.

A true civil war between baronial powers and supporters of the peasants' rights broke out in 1849, being harshly suppressed by the Neapolitan troops.(See [[Sicilian revolution of independence of 1848]].)

In 1861, after the fall of the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]] during the [[Italian unification]], Venosa was occupied by some [[Brigandage in the Two Sicilies|bands of brigands]] under the command of [[Carmine Crocco]] in order to restore the [[House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies|Bourbon power]] in Basilicata.

==Main sights==

[[File:Castello Venosa2.jpg|right|thumb|The Aragonese Castle.]]
[[File:SS. Trinità Venosa.jpg|right|thumb|[[Abbey of Santissima Trinità, Venosa|The Church of ''SS. Trinità''.]]]]
[[File:Venosa Notarchirico.jpg|right|thumb|The Archaeological Area of Notarchirico.]]
*The Aragonese castle, built in 1470 by [[Pirro del Balzo Orsini]]. It has a square plan with four cylindrical towers. The shining sun, the del Balzo coat of arms, is visible on the western towers. It was turned into a residence by [[Carlo Gesualdo|Carlo]] and [[Emanuele Gesualdo]], who added also an internal [[loggia]], the north-western wing and bastions used as prisons. From 1612 it was the seat of the [[Accademia dei Rinascenti]]. It is now home to the National Museum of Venosa, inaugurated in 1991, with ancient Roman and other findings up to the 9th century. The entrance is preceded by a fountain conceded by King [[Charles I of Anjou]].
*Many fragments of Roman workmanship are built into the walls of the cathedral, which is due to Pirro del Balzo also ({{circa|1470}}).
*The [[Abbey of the Santissima Trinità (Venosa)|abbey church of ''SS. Trinità'']] is historically interesting; it was consecrated in 1059 by [[Pope Nicholas II]] and passed into the hands of the [[Knights of Saint John]] in the time of [[Boniface VIII]] (1295–1303). In the central aisle is the tomb of [[Alberada of Buonalbergo|Alberada]], the first wife of [[Robert Guiscard]] and mother of [[Bohemund I of Antioch|Bohemund]]. An inscription on the wall commemorates the great Norman brothers William Iron Arm, Drogo, Humfrey and Robert Guiscard. The bones of these brothers rest together in a simple stone sarcophagus opposite the tomb of Alberada. The church also contains some 14th-century frescoes. Behind it is a larger church, which was begun for the Benedictines about 1150, from the designs of a French architect, in imitation of the Cluniac church at [[Paray-le-Monial]], but never carried beyond the spring of the vaulting. The ancient amphitheatre adjacent furnished the materials for its walls.
*Baroque Church of the Purgatory (or ''San Filippo Neri'')
*The Archaeological Area of [[Notarchirico]], in the communal territory. It covers the [[Palaeolithic]] period with eleven layers dating from 600,000 to 300,000 years ago. Remains of ancient wildlife, including extinct species of [[elephant]]s, [[bison]]s and [[rhinoceros]]es, have been found, as well as a fragment of a femur of ''[[Homo erectus]]''.
*[[Jewish catacombs of Venosa|Jewish catacombs]] with inscriptions in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] show the importance of the Jewish population here in the 4th and 5th centuries.<ref name="EB1911"/>
*Remains of the ancient city walls and of an amphitheatre still exist, and a number of inscriptions have been found there.<ref name="EB1911"/>
* [[Venosa Cathedral]]

==People==
*[[Horace]] (65 BC{{snd}}8 BC): Roman poet
*[[Manfred, King of Sicily|Manfred]] (1232–1266): [[king of Sicily]]
*[[Bartolomeo Maranta]] (1500–1571): physician, botanist, and literary theorist
*[[Luigi Tansillo]] (1510–1568): poet
*[[Carlo Gesualdo]] (1566–1613): music composer, lutenist and nobleman
*[[Giovanni Battista de Luca]] (1614–1683): jurist and cardinal
*[[Giacomo Di Chirico]] (1844–1883): painter
*[[Mario de Bernardi]] (1893–1959): colonel and aviator
*[[Cinzia Giorgio]] (b. 1975): writer
*[[Chiello]] (b. 1999): singer-songwriter and rapper

==Twin towns==
*{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Tortolì]], Italy
*{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Bernalda]], Italy

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons|Venosa}}
*{{Official website|http://www.comune.venosa.pz.it}}

{{province of Potenza}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Basilicata]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Basilicata]]
[[Category:Coloniae (Roman)]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Basilicata]]
[[Category:Borghi più belli d'Italia]]
[[Category:Venosa| ]]