Located in the heart of the southern Apennines, San Marco dei Cavoti is a small town in the Sannio region, in the province of Benevento, Campania, situated 697 metres above sea level.
Located in the heart of the southern Apennines, San Marco dei Cavoti is a small town in the Sannio region, in the province of Benevento, Campania, situated 697 metres above sea level.
Inhabited since Roman times, it was rebuilt numerous times until, during the 14th century, the settlement, then called San Severo, was inhabited by Provençal settlers who came from the French city of Gap in the following of Charles I of Anjou. The name ‘dei Cavoti’, in fact, derives from ‘de Gavotis’, meaning the inhabitants of the mountains of Gap, in Provence. The new centre then took the name of San Marco in honour of the bishop Mark of Eca.
The most interesting monuments include churches and historical palaces:
– the Mother Church, built in the oldest part of the village in the 14th century and rebuilt following the 1962 earthquake;
– the Church of St Mark the Evangelist, which replaced the original one dedicated to St Mark of Eca;
– the 17th-century Church of San Rocco;
– the rural Church of St Barbara, built in the 16th century on the hill of the same name;
– the Provençal Tower, built in the 14th century and transformed into the bell tower of St Mark’s Church in the 19th century;
– the medieval village, with Piazzetta Vicidomini and Palazzo Ricci;
– 14th-century Porta Palazzo, which gives access to Piazzetta Vicidomini and is part of the Palazzo Marchesale;
– Zurlo Palace, dating back to the 16th century, with its panoramic terraces;
– Porta Grande, which, built in the 14th century, was one of the four gates to the village.
Among the museums that we recommend a visit are the Museum of Tower Clocks, which houses 50 ancient clocks, the oldest of which date back to 1500, and the MODERN (Museo Osservatorio Didattico Espositivo e di Ricerca sul Novecento), dedicated to objects related to advertising, packaging and commerce in general, which are part of the collection of journalist and writer Andrea Jelardi.
San Marco dei Cavoti is an essentially agricultural town, where a number of textile factories were established in the 1980s and 1990s, flanked by workshops for the handcrafted production of nougats, one of the small town’s typical products, which you cannot miss tasting!
