Ancient fragments. Many. Of temples and civil buildings from the Roman era. Appearing everywhere, in every corner of the hamlet, to remind us of their long history. Begun around the IV century BC. by the Lucanians, at least according to the most recent hypothesis formulated by scholars.
Located in an elevated, strategic position, at 637 meters on the hill overlooking alone the large surrounding valley, the height did not save it from the fury of the Visigoths of Alaric, who destroyed it in 410 AD. Later, in that same century, the village was re-founded as Dianum and that new name passed on to what since then would be called, precisely, Vallo di Diano (Diano Valley), of which it became the most important settlement in the Middle Ages.
At the time of the Normans several families from other areas settled there and the same happened in the following centuries, in waves corresponding to the different dominations of the time. But Dianum assumed a prominent role on the occasion of the so-called Conspiracy of the Barons happened in 1485, in the castle by its lord of the time Antonello Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, against Ferdinand I of Aragon. Sanseverino took refuge in the castle to save himself after the failure of the conspiracy. On that occasion, the fortress proved impregnable: it resisted the prolonged siege of Ferdinand allowing the rebel to negotiate his surrender, saving the life of the inhabitants of the village and its own. The Sanseverinos remained masters of the citadel and the plain until 1552, then supplanted by other noble families who also ensured the well-being of the population.
With the unification of Italy, a new law requiring a name changing to avoid homonyms between the localities of the entire kingdom was established, the name Tegianum was imposed, recovered from antiquity, but never accepted by the inhabitants who continued to use the name Diano among themselves in dialect.
The oppidum plant with the thistle and the decumani has been preserved and handed down from Roman times, which was not touched either in the federician era or with the advent of the Normans. It was then that the castle was built, which became famous at the time of the Sanseverinos for the role it had in the conspiracy of the Barons and for the subsequent siege, lasted until 1487. Two other sieges, suffered by Ladislao of Durazzo and by Charles VIII, confirmed it impregnability. Once its defensive function ceased, starting from the twentieth century, it was converted into a private residence and passed into the possession of dianese families, until 1920 when it became Macchiaroli Palace from the family of the same name and as such it is still known today. Among the other defensive structures of the ancient fortress, protected by imposing walls built in the Middle Ages, with four gates and twenty-five-meter-high towers, the latter have come down to us.
In addition to the other noble palaces, the historic center is characterized by the picturesque network of alleys and small squares, together with the main square where the obelisk of San Cono stands, patron saint of Teggiano, where he was born. Another square is the one at the entrance to the castle, which overlooks the panorama of the entire valley. At the center of the thistle is the Seat, founded in 1133 by Bosone de Flumine, where the city university met.
In Teggiano, there are thirteen churches, including the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, originally in Gothic style, commissioned by King Charles of Anjou and consecrated on August the 12th, 1274. After the profound transformation, expansion following the earthquake of 1857 and the proclamation of the bishop's seat, the cathedral has preserved only a part of the previous treasures. In particular, four medieval tombs, among which that of Enrico Sanseverino, Grand Constable of the Kingdom of Naples, work of the extraordinary Tino da Camaino stands out. Not to be neglected is the magnificent 13th-century ambo from 1271, made by Melchiorre of Montalbano. A Crucifix from the fifteenth century and the wooden statue of Saint Cono from 1714, by Domenico of Venuta, together with various paintings from the seventeenth-fifteenth century are definitely noteworthy. The bell tower was added in the twentieth century.
In Teggiano, it is worth visiting the Diocesan Museum of Saint Peter, in the Angevin church of Saint Peter, built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to the Roman divinity of Aesculapius. There are two ancient church tombs and various frescoes, paintings and sculptures from different eras. There is also a museum dedicated to Saint Cono, the Benedictine born in Teggiano in the XII century and already in holiness when he was alive. The Museum of herbs, on herbs and ethnobotany dates back to 1999, in which an ancient apothecary has been rebuilt, with an interesting set of original instruments and jars from the fifteenth century, and that houses ancient recipes for the production of natural-based remedies.
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