Here, between 1051 and 1058, the eldest son of Robert Guiscard was born. They christened him Mark, after the patron saint of the town, but his father jokingly renamed him Bohemond, after the biblical monster Behemoth, because as a child he was already enormous; and Bohemond he remained. As a grown man he led the Normans in the First Crusade and took for himself the principality of Antioch. Of Guiscard's presence there remains the Norman tower that dominates the town.
The second name, on the other hand, is a decision of the town council. In 1862, so as not to be confused with the other San Marco of Italy, the councillors resolved to add Argentano, and put the reason on record: considering that the present municipality of Sammarco has its origin in the ancient Argentanum, and so to favour tradition. Argentanum is a Bruttian city mentioned by Livy that nobody has ever identified with certainty; and linguists still argue about the name: some link it to silver mines, others, more prosaically, to a Roman family called Argento.
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📅 Every year, on 25 April, with the Historical Procession
San Marco Argentano celebrates Saint Mark the Evangelist on 25 April, with the traditional Historical Procession. According to an old belief, the town took its name from the passage of the Evangelist Mark, after the conversion of its inhabitants.
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 San Marco Argentano, but an easy day trip away.
