ROMAN REMAINS

Arco di Traiano. Via Traiano. Erected between 114 and 117 A.D., the Trajan Arch commemorates the opening of the Via Traiana which connected Rome more directly to Brindisi. Benevento thus became a crossroads between several communication routes - and took advantage of it - since the Via Appia, leading to Brindisi by an alternative route, also crossed it. The Arch of Trajan is one of the best-preserved Roman triumphal arches, of which the high reliefs have almost completely survived. These represent, on the city side, scenes of civil peace, and on the country side, scenes of war and illustrations of the emperor's activity in the provinces. Under the arch, Emperor Trajan is represented in his relations with Benevento.

Ponte Leproso. Spanning the Sabato River with its four arches (originally five), the bridge was built in the 4th century BC on the route of the Via Appia that linked Rome and Benevento to the port of Brindisi and from there to the East. Its name is thought to come from a leper colony that was established nearby in the Middle Ages. On the banks of the Sabato, an ancient legend tells that the witches of Benevento gathered under a walnut tree to celebrate the Sabbath!

Teatro romano. Piazza Caio Ponzio Telesino. Open from 9am to one hour before sunset. Admission: 2 €. Inaugurated in the year 126 by Emperor Hadrian and enlarged by Caracalla in the following century, the theatre is 90 m in diameter and could accommodate 10,000 spectators. The cavea, the stage and two of its three levels of arches are preserved.