CASTELLO - MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO DEL MELFESE

Built by the Normans in the 11th century, the castle hosted four councils between 1059 and 1101; at the time of that of 1089, Pope Urban II ratified the first crusade. The castle was restored and enlarged by Frederick II who, in 1231, promulgated the "Melfi Constitutions", the first organic text of penal and civil laws written in medieval times. In the 16th century the castle became the property of the Doria family. Particularly well preserved, it is a polygonal construction with ten towers (seven rectangular and three pentagonal). The west tower, known as the "Lion's rampart", shows a projection in the shape of a nest which, according to the legend, would have been the nest of the imperial eagle of Frederick II.

The castle is now home to the National Archaeological Museum of the Melfi region, which includes beautiful ceramics, goldsmith's pieces and reconstructions of the princely tombs of Melfi (^5th and 4th centuries BC). It occupies three rooms on the ground floor and displays archaeological collections relating to the indigenous populations of Prehistory and Antiquity, the Roman, Byzantine and Norman periods. The centrepiece of the museum is the Rapolla sarcophagus, a magnificent Roman work dating from the end of the 2nd century A.D. and originating from Asia Minor.

Festa della Falconeria: every last weekend in October the falconry festival takes place in Melfi Castle, with demonstrations and parades in costume.