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 RIVELLO - BASILICATA - SOUTH ITALY 
Rivello (which means "small watercourse"); a typical 
              south Italy mountain town, surrounded by woods and high hills of 
              the Basilicata region. Rivello is located in a splendidly scenic 
              position on the ridge of a hill that overlooks the whole Noce Valley 
              and Mount Sirino. The urban structure of the town is equally picturesque 
              with the chuch of San Nicola dei Greci dominating the western height 
              of the town.
  
              The town has an unusual history: born from a Basilian monk's laura and 
              therefore a place of prayer and worship, it became a place disputed 
              for centuries by Lombards and Byzantines because of its strategic 
              position. Neither power was able to prevail over the other, so they 
              reached an uncommon form of agreement. The Lombards settled the 
              upper part of the town, while the Byzantines concentrated in the 
              lower.
  
              As a consequence, within this once very populous town, two centres 
              with two very different cultures developed. Each center has its 
              own major church. The Lombards in the upper areas built The church 
              of Santa Maria Maggiore, of Latin rite, and the Byzantines built 
              The church of San Nicola which practices the rites of the Greek 
              church, a tradition that lasted well into the 17th century.
               
 
  
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              Although all the local churches are now Roman Catholic, many reveal a Byzantine 
            architectural influence. There are many other smaller churches in 
            the town, the vast majority are open all day and throughout the year.
			On the first floor the Civic Museum displays archaeological material 
            found at Serra Città and Piano del Pignataro, where archaeologists 
            have found numerous brick kilns active from the 3rd century BC.
  
            The church in the complex of the former convent of Sant’Antonio, 
            of the Observant Minors (15th century) on the façade has a 
            16th century portico, frescoed by Pietrafesa (17th century).The entrance 
            has a fine wooden doorway flanked by two stone sea-lions. The interior 
            is of the baroque style with two canvasses (The Sacra famiglia and 
            the Immacolata) by the local painter Salvatore Ferrari in the 18th 
            Century, and other pictures by Filippo Vitale, the Domenico Antonio 
            Vaccaro and Domenico Mondo. The cloister was partially knocked down 
            but the two remaining wings of the convent, conserve cycles of frescoes 
            by Pietrafesa and Giovanni Todisco Todisco's works include the Scene 
            della Passione and the Ultima Cena which is hung in the refectory 
            (1559). At the center of the cloister stands a stone well.
                  
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