Benevento - Sant'Ilario in Port'Aurea

Due to its location and importance, Benevento was an important base for Roman rule in southern Italy for centuries. After the expansion of the Lombards, Benevento became the seat of Lombard dukes but repeatedly fell into dependence on the Franks and the German emperors. In 840, Benevento was occupied by the Muslims for a few years. The city has been the seat of the Archbishopric of Benevento since 969. In 1047 it fell into the hands of Norman princes with the exception of the city, which Emperor Henry III gave to Leo IX in 1053. In the 11th and 12th centuries, four councils were held in Benevento.

On February 26, 1266, in the Battle of Benevento, the Hohenstaufen Manfred, natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, was defeated by Charles of Anjou, after which the latter seized Apulia, Sicily, and Tuscia.

"Sant'Ilario in Port'Aurea" is a Lombard construction near the Arco di Traiano, named as well Porta Aurea.

The church was erected in the 6th or7th century on ruins of previous buildings. The first document confirming the presence of the church and an adjacent monastery dates to 1148. End of the 17th century it was desecrated and transformed into a farmhouse. The building was therefore modified over time, so that it was no longer recognizable. It was only in the 1920s that it was identified.