The Cathedral of Benevento
Yesterday, 12 giugno, I went to the Diocesan Museum the is housed in the ruins of the old cathedral that was bombed during WWII under the current cathedral. The museum does not allow photography, but I was able to get some images from online. What was striking about this museum is that it is a living, archaeological site that recounts the importance of this particular location in Benevento for over 2000 years. The excavations after the bombing revealed old walls and stalls of a previous market place during early Roman times above which the original cathedral was built beginning around 1100 AD. In this space you literally are walking through history. Metal pathways have been erected to take you on this journey. The signage started off in Italian and English, but the further I went into the museum, the less English translation was provided. It was a good opportunity for me to practice my developing Italian reading skills. You can see remnants of the old structure of the cathedral, what remains of the old, painted plaster walls and mosaic flooring. Just above your head are steel beams that are sustaining the massive structure of the new cathedral. After the bombing of this area in 1943, all that remained from the original cathedral was part of the bell tower and facade. There was a very moving photograph of the townspeople surveying the damage from the edges of the rubble after the bombing. An important message to all visitors on the destruction of war.
My eyes filled with tears today reading this and seeing the pictures. It is the promise of hope. So many years ago and the promise that life goes on it’s comforting to me.