Abbey of the Santissima Trinità (Venosa)

Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity
Abbazia della Santissima Trinità
The Parco Archeologico of Venosa, with the walls of the Incompiuta (centre, right) and part of the old church (left, with pink roof); in the foreground, the remains of Roman Venusia
Shown within Basilicata
Basic information
Geographic coordinates	40°58′10″N 15°49′39″E / 40.9695°N 15.8276°E / 40.9695; 15.8276Coordinates: 40°58′10″N 15°49′39″E / 40.9695°N 15.8276°E / 40.9695; 15.8276
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Municipality	Venosa
Region	Basilicata
Country	Italy
Website	Comune of Venosa
Architectural description
Architectural style	Roman early Christian Romanesque Lombard Norman
Groundbreaking	Fifth century
Completed	not completed

The Abbey of the Santissima Trinità or Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity, Italian: Abbazia della Santissima Trinità, is a Roman Catholic abbey complex at Venosa, in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. The architecture of the abbey shows Roman, Lombard, and Norman influences. The complex lies within the Parco Archeologico ("archaeological park") of Venosa, approximately 1.5 km north-east of the town; it falls under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa. It consists of the old church, of uncertain date; the monastery buildings; and the Incompiuta, the unfinished or new church, begun in the last quarter of the eleventh century and never completed. The complex was declared a National Monument by Royal Decree on 20 November 1897. It is no longer a monastery, but is used by the Trinitarian Order.

The date of construction of the monastery is unknown; some elements may date from the eighth century. A foundation date of 954 AD is documented in the spurious Chronicon Cavense of the forger, scholar and priest Francesco Maria Pratilli (1689–1763). Following the Council of Melfi in 1059, the church was transformed from a cathedral to an abbey by a bull of Pope Nicholas II, and the number of monks increased from 20 to 100. In the same year he invested Robert Guiscard as Duke of Puglia and Calabria, and Guiscard made the abbey the religious centre of his domain.