In a woman's grave of the fifth century BC dug here a jug came to light with a scene that is hard to forget: a sphere enclosing a lightning bolt, above it a stylised human figure in mourning, and seven stars around. Scholars connect it to Pythagorean doctrine; the jug is now in the archaeological museum of Melfi.
The name comes from the whiteness of the crag: Ripa Candida. The town sent its people a long way — at Blue Island, in Illinois, enough of them arrived to make a community that still celebrates San Donato — and in 1571 it sent a good number of men to Lepanto. There are 1,733 residents.
Chiesa di San Giuseppe · chiesa di Santa Maria del Sepolcro · chiesa di Sant'Antonio and 1 more
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Next up: Saint Donatus and Saint Donatello, the two faces of the patron, Saturday 7 August
Nearest airport: Bari Palese, 90 km away
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📅 Every year, on 7 and 17 August
Ripacandida celebrates Saint Donatus and Saint Donatello on 7 and 17 August; the sanctuary dedicated to them, at the entrance to the town, has 16th-century frescoes and a thousand-year history.
Chiesa di San Giuseppe Ripacandida's nuns' church, followed by Carmelites from behind the grates. 
chiesa di Santa Maria del Sepolcro Three clocks on the façade, and only the sundial still tells the right time. 
chiesa di Sant'Antonio Shut by the 1980 earthquake, it reopened for worship on 13 May 2024. 
chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine The Baffari arms over the door name the man who rebuilt the church after 1694. Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Ripacandida, but an easy day trip away.
