Tricarico

Tricarico is a town in the province of Matera, built on a hilltop and home to one of the best-preserved medieval historic centers in the Basilicata region. Its origins reach back to Lucanian and Roman antiquity; documented history begins in 849, when it was a Lombard county. Between the 9th and 10th centuries it was held as an Arab stronghold, then taken by the Byzantines in 968, before becoming a Norman fortified town in 1048 — the old Rabata and Saracena quarters still reflect that Islamic-era layout. The town's Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta was founded under Robert Guiscard and later hosted the coronation of Louis I of Anjou in 1383; its original Romanesque structure was substantially remodeled into its current Baroque form between the 16th and 18th centuries.