Melfi

The Normans took Melfi in the eleventh century and made it a capital, building the castle that still dominates the town with ten towers and a moat. In August 1231 Frederick II promulgated the Constitutions of Melfi here, a code that centralised justice under royal courts, restricted private war and trial by ordeal, and regulated medicine and public health; historians often describe it as the first systematic body of state law in medieval Europe. The castle now holds the national archaeological museum of the Vulture area, whose centrepiece is a Roman sarcophagus of the second century carved with figures in niches.

History

Melfi was inhabited by the Daunians and Lucanians, and under the Romans it lay within the colony of Venusia, founded in 291 BC. It was captured several times until it was assigned to the Norman leader William of Hauteville, and from here the Hauteville family began their conquest of southern Italy (Wikipedia, Melfi).

What's there

• The Norman castle - ten towers and a moat above the town.
• The Constitutions - the 1231 code issued in this building.
• The Rapolla sarcophagus - a carved Roman tomb in the museum.
• The cathedral tower - a Norman campanile in the town below.

When to go

April to October; the castle museum closes some Mondays. Monte Vulture, an extinct volcano with crater lakes, lies close and suits the same trip.

Practical notes

Much of the castle is museum rather than furnished rooms. The town below is workaday. Public transport to Melfi is limited.

Nearby

Monte Vulture and its lakes lie south; Potenza is further on.