Make your way to the historic center of Benevento, which is packed full of beauty of every kind. If you’re traveling by car, mind you, you might find it tricky to locate a parking lot. There’s one in the Piazza Cardinale Pacca, also known as the Piazza Santa Maria, just off Corso Garibaldi. A few meters away you can find the majestic Benevento Cathedral, which for eight centuries was part of the Papal State. First built in the 7th century, in the late Lombard period (9th century) it was reshaped and decorated in the Romanic style. This lasted until the tragic summer of 1943, when it was destroyed in the bombing. Fortunately, the facade, with its Roman and Byzantine fragments, the bell tower (don’t forget the boar) and the crypt remain. The bronze door, Janua Major, is wonderful, restored and situated in the atrium, with 72 panels from the 12th and 13th centuries illustrating the life of Jesus. Inside, don’t miss the superb fresco in the crypt (10th century) which will take you to the witches. It depicts the conversion of the Lombardy people to Christianity carried out by Saint Barbatus with the destruction of the famous walnut tree, from which – it is said – a viper emerged, a symbol of the demons: under the branches of the tree, the witches celebrated their rituals, scattering strange ointments and chanting "Ointment, ointment, take me to the Benevento Walnut Tree. Above the water and above the wind and all the bad weather blown in from the sea”.
