Potenza sits high in the Apennine mountains in Basilicata, deep in the south of Italy. A Roman town originally, it became part of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century and was later held by the occupying Spanish power. Earthquakes devastated Potenza repeatedly through the centuries, and it suffered huge damage by heavy Allied bombing in 1943. The most recent earthquake was in 1980; since then there has been extensive and unattractive rebuilding, and it remains, for this and many reasons, a little visited city. Among its few sights are two provincial archeological museums, a cathedral, a handful of churches, all heavily restored, and the scant remains of the 11th -century castle, the Torre Guevara.
