Santomenna: history and local heritage

Santomenna stands about 540 metres above sea level in a mountain valley between the Sella di Conza and Marzano ranges. The Temete stream runs nearby. The earthquake of 23 November 1980 destroyed most of the old settlement, which was subsequently rebuilt. The town's past is closely tied to the Archbishops of Conza and devotion to Saint Menna.

The Museum of Sacred Art preserves surviving objects and artworks from a religious and architectural heritage that suffered greatly in the earthquake.

History and the cult of Saint Menna

Local history traces the settlement to around the ninth century as an ecclesiastical fief. According to tradition, Saint Menna, an Egyptian martyr, had a cell on the higher ground, where Benedictine monks later founded a monastery. Pilgrimages and small terracotta ampoules associated with healing formed part of his cult. The area's many springs also recalled the tradition of miraculous water near the martyr's burial place in North Africa.

For centuries the Upper Sele and Ofanto valleys belonged to the Archdiocese of Conza. From the fifteenth century some archbishops lived at Santomenna or Sant'Andrea di Conza, according to their needs. Santomenna housed an ecclesiastical court and seminary. In later centuries its administrative relationship with the church changed.

What to see

• Palazzo De Ruggieri, dating from the nineteenth century and used as a museum.
• The Capuchin convent, founded in 1580, and its Chapel of San Vito, with the sarcophagus of Archbishop Ercole Rangone.
• The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, associated with the fourteenth century and recognisable by its large dome.
• The Museum of Sacred Art, with surviving works from the old town.
• The early eighteenth-century Church of the Immaculate Conception.
• The old blacksmith's workshop associated with a story about Saint Gerard Majella.

The story of Saint Gerard and the blacksmith

Local tradition tells of Saint Gerard stopping at a Santomenna blacksmith to have his horse shod while visiting his uncle. Two versions of the story survive. In one, the blacksmith charged an unfair price, and Gerard commanded the horse to return its shoes; they fell from its hooves. In the account handed down by the blacksmith's descendants, the disagreement began when the blacksmith swore repeatedly while working in the August heat. Gerard chose to leave without the shoes being fitted. Both versions portray the incident as a turning point for the blacksmith.

A plaque outside the old forge remembers the event. The workshop also preserves traces of traditional ironworking and rural life. Access to the building depends on the owners' availability; do not assume it is open to the public.