Melfi

Melfi's medieval old town carries a history well above its size: it was the first capital of Norman rule in southern Italy, and later a favoured residence of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who issued his landmark Sicilian legal code — the Constitutions of Melfi — here in the 13th century. The town sits in Basilicata's Vulture area, roughly midway between Naples and Bari, and has a café and restaurant scene alongside an unusual concentration of historic churches for a compact town.

• Population13,079
• Nearest water from center0.5 km
• Nearest mountain from center4.7 km
• UNESCO within 50 km2