picturesque town in the province of Potenza, founded in the XV century on the territory that, till then, belonged to the Carthusian monastery of St. Nicholas, donated to the monks by the Princess Giovanna, wife of Prince Severino di Chiaromonte, for a grace received. In the territories, reclaimed from the marshland, soon established families of farmers and laborers of the neighboring areas, called by the monks to cultivate these new lands. The name derives from the tax exemptions applied to the inhabitants of the area, except for a tenth that they had to honor to the monastery.
The town remained under the control of the Carthusians until the abolition of feudalism.
Not to miss:
- the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii (XIX century);
- the Parish Church dedicated to Saints Felice and Policarpo, inside which are preserved a precious engraved altar and a series of XVIII century paintings;
- the Chapel of St. Anthony (XIX century);
- the Chapel of the Assumption (XIX century);
- the ruins of the Monastery of St. Nicholas, founded in 1395 by Vencislao, Count of Clermont. It was destroyed in the early XIX century by the followers of Gioacchino Murat;
- the ruins of the fortified convent of Ventrilo, located in the area of Chiaromonte, which was part of the domain of the Abbey of the Sagittario;
- the spring of sulphurous water, near the river Sinni, in the Avena woods.