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00 Benevento
Stemma di Benevento

Campania · Benevento

Benevento

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

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 24 min from Salerno
By train
Station in the comune
Population
56,201

Known for

  • ARCO DI TRAIANO

    Roman triumphal arch of 114-117, one of the best-preserved in the empire, marking the start of the Via Traiana to Brindisi.

  • UNESCO LOMBARD

    Santa Sofia church, founded around 760 by Duke Arechis II, inscribed in 2011 as part of the Longobards in Italy serial site.

  • STREGA LIQUEUR

    Yellow herbal liqueur distilled in Benevento since 1860 by the Alberti family, gave its name to Italy's leading literary prize founded in 1947.

  • AGLIANICO DEL TABURNO

    The commune lies inside the Aglianico del Taburno DOCG production zone.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J12°
  • F14°
  • M15°
  • A19°
  • M24°
  • J30°
  • J34°
  • A33°
  • S28°
  • O23°
  • N17°
  • D14°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Benevento sits at the confluence of the Calore and Sabato rivers, fifty-five kilometers northeast of Naples, the historic capital of the Sannio. The Lombard Duchy of Benevento was founded in 571, well before the small circular church that survives from around 760, and the city centre still carries that double layer of Roman provincial capital and Lombard duchy seat. Walking from the cathedral down Corso Garibaldi, past the cloister sculptures set against the medieval wall, ends at the triumphal arch, so the route itself moves from the Lombard and medieval town toward the point where the Roman road left for Brindisi.

The countryside around the city is Aglianico del Taburno wine and the herbal liqueur distilled here since 1860. What holds the city together is this sequence along one line of streets: two civic identities, Roman and Lombard, laid end to end and still walkable in that order.

The Sunday letter

Benevento is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Benevento comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Benevento in our articles

How to get there

From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 25m by car.

Bari / Brindisi (BRI) is about 2h 27m away.

By car from the centre of Salerno 1h 24m, Naples 1h 29m or Bari 2h 31m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Naples?

Coming by train into Salerno? Benevento is about 1h 27m away by road.

Every town within reach of Naples / Salerno airport.

Benevento, photo 1
Benevento, photo 2

What to see

  • Arco di Traiano

    The marble reliefs facing the road show Trajan's domestic policy, those facing the town his military campaigns, a pairing read as deliberate rather than decorative. The Via Traiana ran from this point to Brindisi.

  • Chiesa di Santa Sofia

    The circular plan is unusual for the period, and the interior keeps traces of the original Lombard fabric beneath later additions. It stands apart from the rectangular churches common elsewhere in the city.

  • 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.

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

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 56,201
  • A local hubi
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 25 min drive
  • Regional capital Napoli, 1 h 29 min drive

Common questions

What is Benevento known for?
Sannio capital at the Calore-Sabato confluence, with a 114 AD Trajan arch and a Lombard rotunda on the UNESCO list.
Where is Benevento?
Benevento is a comune in the province of Benevento, in Campania, at 130 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Benevento?
Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 25m by car.
Can you get to Benevento without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Salerno to Benevento?
About 1h 24m by car.
When is the best time to visit Benevento?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
Which other towns are like Benevento?
Caserta, Nola and Lecce.
How many people live in Benevento?
56,201 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 130 m
  • Population: 56,201
  • Surface area: 130.84 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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🏛️ UNESCO

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