Tricarico

Tricarico
Comune
Comune di Tricarico
Norman tower and Monastery of Santa Chiara
Coat of arms
Tricarico Location of Tricarico in Italy
Coordinates: 40°37′N 16°9′E / 40.617°N 16.150°E / 40.617; 16.150
Country	Italy
Region	Basilicata
Province / Metropolitan city	Matera (MT)
Frazioni	Calle
Government
• Mayor	Raffaello Marsilio
Area
• Total	176.91 km2 (68.31 sq mi)
Elevation	698 m (2,290 ft)
Population (March 2009)
• Total	5,920
• Density	33/km2 (87/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Tricaricési
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	75019
Dialing code	0835
Patron saint	St. Potitus
Saint day	14 January
Website	Official website

Tricarico (Greek: Triakrikon) is a town and comune in the province of Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy.

It is home to one of the best preserved medieval historical centres in Lucania.

The origin of the name Tricarico is unknown. According to one hypothesis, it cound be Triacricon, deriving from the Greek words treis ("three") and acron/acra (an apex, either a "citadel", or just a "summit"), with Triacricon meaning the city "with the three citadels". These three acra/citadels were no other than the site of the 9th c Arabic castle of Saracena in the north, the site of a 9th-10th c Byzantine Rocca fortificata in the south, improved during the 11th-12th c by the Normans, and then, during the 13th c, by the Hohenstaufen, and also the site of the 14th c Palazzo Ducale in the middle. Probably the three sites were simultaneously fortified even before the successive occupations.

Although of ancient origin, the first news documented about the town dates to 849, when it was a Lombard county included in the gastaldate of Salerno. Later (9th century - late 10th century) it was an Arabic stronghold. The terrace gardens, of Arabic origin, are still in use today. In 968 Tricarico was conquered by the Byzantine Empire, and then, in 1048, it became a Norman fortified town.