Melfi

On the northern slopes of the volcanic massif of Mount Vulture, in Basilicata, at an altitude of 530 metres and with 17,000 inhabitants, Melfi stands along the Via Appia, overlooking southern Capitanata and the Terra di Bari. Founded by the Byzantines in the early 11th century, after the Normans settled here it came to be regarded as the "moral capital of the conquest of Puglia", where the most important assemblies and synods were held. Together with Venosa, Troia and Salerno, it was one of the four ducales urbes (ducal cities) of the Duchy of Apulia. In the Norman-Swabian period Melfi was the largest town in Basilicata and was home to communities of Amalfitan merchants and Jews. In 1153 King Roger II had the cathedral bell tower built; its lions, symbols of royal power, were meant to urge the population to obedience. Frederick II stayed in Melfi on several occasions between 1230 and 1247: in summer, when the heat of the Tavoliere became unbearable, the Emperor often withdrew here, finding cool air and ideal hunting grounds. During his longest stay, from 26 May to 10 September 1231, the famous Constitutiones, commonly known as the Constitutions of Melfi, were drawn up and promulgated: a synthesis of the legal cultures of the Norman-Swabian age and the law code of the Kingdom of Sicily. As for the Castle, Frederick II strengthened the existing Norman core (now the National Archaeological Museum) and added three new towers: the Torre del Marcangione, the Torre dei Quattro Venti and the small tower known as the 'parvula'.

Besides the vast and mighty Castle, which houses the precious Sarcophagus of Rapolla (not to be missed), the town boasts remarkable buildings of historical and architectural interest. Among the most important are the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (the end point of Stage 11 of the Cammino) with its imposing bell tower; the Bishop's Palace, home to the Diocesan Museum, with a fine bronze statue of St William with the wolf in the adjoining garden (not to be missed); the town walls with the notable Porta Venosina; the former Convent of San Bartolomeo, one of the Williamite foundations; numerous palazzi, fountains and squares; and, last but not least, the rock-cut Church of Santa Margherita (not to be missed), with 13th-century frescoes. Besides St Margaret, they include a fresco of St William and another showing Frederick II encountering three skeletons. (A.V.)

On his way back from Compostela, having come from Rome and passed through Benevento, William stopped in Melfi, where, as the Legenda tells us, he was given hospitality in the house of a man named Roger. Roger introduced him to the treasure of the Psalms, beginning with Psalm 109, the Dixit Dominus, one of the most important psalms in the Psalter of David. A new horizon then opened up before William, the treasure of Holy Scripture, and from that time on, his first biographer tells us, no mystery of Scripture remained unknown to him.