Marsico Nuovo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saint George. It stands on a hill that rises above the town. Formerly the seat of the diocese of Marsico Nuovo, it has been a co-cathedral within the Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo since 1986.
The structure was erected in 1131 under the patronage of the bishop Enrico and count Goffredo. This Romanesque church was destroyed by a fire in 1807. A new church was commissioned by the bishop Ignazio Maroldo, and completed by 1829, but an earthquake razed the building in 1857. Finally, a new cathedral was begun in 1875 and completed in 1899. The belltower dates from 1293, commissioned by Count Tommaso Sanseverino.
The main portal dates from the 16th century and is surrounded by an 18th-century relief of the Virgin. The church now has a single nave. The interior contains a wooden Madonna and Child from the 13th-century, and a 17th-century pulpit and choir. It has some paintings by Nicola Peccheneda.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.