Venosa, in Basilicata, is considered one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. The city was founded in the year 291 BC by the Romans, who dedicated it to Venus.
It is where the great Latin poet Horace was born and spent his adolescence.
For years NERI has collaborated with the local government to light and furnish the town, adding value to its historical, architectural and urban excellence.
The latest development took place nearby the fifteenth-century castle. NERI designed, produced and assembled the new balustrade that overlooks the Aragonese castle’s great moat. This essential safety intervention was designed by combining steel and glass to achieve maximum transparency and visibility of the monument.
The balustrade is the latest of the many works carried out by NERI for Venosa, which began its collaboration in 1988 when it lit the entire town.
In 2007, twenty years after the first piece of work, NERI worked alongside Philips to make upgrades and save energy by replacing the original spheres with a new product, one designed especially by the studio. Full cutoff with the use of innovative Fortimo LED system, it was one of the greatest solutions ever created by Philips. Lamp posts and the beams in the town alleys were all replaced.
The outskirts of the historic
centre were lit with the Nashira, Heka and Mizar systems.
The urban project overseen by the government has always placed lighting interventions alongside furnishing projects with planters, benches, bicycle racks
and tourist signs.
In
honour of Horace, the local government created a tourist project in 2006 named “Percorso
Oraziano” (Horatian Trail). The walking route leads along Via Vittorio Emanuele II, the main arterial road that connects the two ends of the historic
centre, and which is home to the most noteworthy places to visit. Each place of interest is signposted by a wall-mounted notice board produced by NERI. The signs display poetic quotes from Horace's various works.
It is truly intriguing to stroll around the town and read Horace’s words on these panels. Readers can expect to discover some truly interesting and unexpected things. Such as these words about his father:
“Poor as he was, scant as his acres were,
He
scorn’d to trust a village pedant’s care;
And, while to Flavius’ school his
neighours’ sons,
Great youths derived from great Centurions,
Would go, with slate and satchel at their sides,
And copper stipend pair per monthly Ides,
His boy at once to Rome he boldly brought
Each nobler branch of science to be taught,
Which sons of Knights or Senators require”
The Epodes, Satires and Epistles of Horace. Translated by Charles Howes, W. Pickering, 1845