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00 Venosa
Stemma di Venosa

Basilicata · Potenza

Venosa

Founded as Roman Venusia in 291 BC, birthplace of Horace, with an unfinished abbey built from amphitheater stones and a 1470 Aragonese castle.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 38 min from Bari
By train
Station in the comune
Population
10,913

Known for

  • HORACE

    Birthplace of Quintus Horatius Flaccus in 65 BC, the Roman poet who returned to Venusia repeatedly in his Odes and Satires.

  • AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE

    Heart of the Aglianico del Vulture DOC and DOCG, southern Italy's great red, grown on the volcanic soils around Monte Vulture.

  • THE INCOMPIUTA

    Roofless thirteenth-century cathedral built from Roman amphitheater stones, abandoned mid-construction, still standing as the town's most photographed ruin.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J11°
  • F14°
  • M15°
  • A18°
  • M24°
  • J30°
  • J34°
  • A33°
  • S28°
  • O23°
  • N17°
  • D13°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

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

The festa: San Rocco, 16 August

Why come

Venosa sits in the Vulture hills, ninety kilometers east of Salerno. The Romans founded Venusia here in 291 BC as a colony on the Appian Way, and it became the birthplace of Quintus Horatius Flaccus, the poet Horace, in 65 BC. The Parco Archeologico preserves a Roman amphitheater, the baths, and mosaic floors, alongside the so-called Casa di Orazio.

Above the ruins stands the Abbazia della Santissima Trinità, an eleventh-century Benedictine complex begun in 1059, with its walls built from blocks salvaged out of the Roman amphitheater next door. The Incompiuta, the unfinished thirteenth-century cathedral expansion immediately behind the abbey, is roofless and visibly stitched together from Roman fragments. The town centre is dominated by the Castello di Pirro del Balzo, built in 1470 on the foundations of an earlier cathedral and modelled on the Maschio Angioino in Naples. Venosa is at the heart of the Aglianico del Vulture DOC and DOCG zone, the great red of southern Italy, grown on the volcanic slopes of nearby Monte Vulture.

The Sunday letter

Venosa 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 Venosa comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Venosa in our articles

How to get there

From Bari / Brindisi (BRI), about 1h 35m by car.

Naples / Salerno (NAP) is about 2h 32m away.

By car from the centre of Bari 1h 38m, Salerno 2 hours or Naples 2h 35m.

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

Coming from Bari?

Coming by train into Foggia? Venosa is about 1h 11m away by road.

Every town within reach of Bari / Brindisi airport.

Venosa, photo 1
Venosa, photo 2

What to see

  • Abbazia della Santissima Trinità

    Benedictine abbey of 1059 with walls built from blocks of the adjacent Roman amphitheater, the spiritual centre of Norman Venosa.

  • Incompiuta

    Roofless thirteenth-century cathedral expansion behind the abbey of Santissima Trinità, abandoned mid-build, visibly assembled from Roman spolia.

  • Castello di Pirro del Balzo

    Quadrangular Aragonese castle of 1470 with corner towers, built on the foundations of the earlier cathedral, modelled on Castel Nuovo in Naples.

  • Parco Archeologico di Venusia

    Roman amphitheater, baths, paved streets and mosaic floors of the colony founded in 291 BC, alongside the so-called Casa di Orazio.

  • Museo Archeologico Nazionale

    Housed in the Castello, the museum holds finds from the Roman colony, the early Christian catacombs and the Jewish necropolis.

  • Catacombe ebraiche e paleocristiane

    Underground Jewish and early Christian burial chambers from the third to fifth centuries on the slopes outside the centro.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Venosa 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.

  • Al BaliaggioRistorante

    Al Baliaggio holds one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100).

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 10,913
  • Remotei
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Bari / Brindisi, 1 h 35 min drive
  • Regional capital Potenza, 54 min drive

Common questions

What is Venosa known for?
Founded as Roman Venusia in 291 BC, birthplace of Horace, with an unfinished abbey built from amphitheater stones and a 1470 Aragonese castle.
Where is Venosa?
Venosa is a comune in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata, at 415 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Venosa?
Bari / Brindisi (BRI), about 1h 35m by car.
Can you get to Venosa without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Bari to Venosa?
About 1h 38m by car.
When is the best time to visit Venosa?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Venosa?
Yes. Fiera sapori del Sud, Festa della Bufala Venosa and Festival del Gusto, and 1 more we hold a source for. May is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Venosa?
Pisticci, Melfi and Isernia.
How many people live in Venosa?
10,913 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 415 m
  • Population: 10,913
  • Surface area: 170.39 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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