The inhabited area between the Sella di Conza and Marzano mountains is in a landscape of considerable charm. The last and destructive earthquake of November 23, 1980, almost destroyed it, but it has now been rebuilt... #tuttitaly
Santomenna rises between the Conza saddle and the Marzano-Eremita mountain range in the upper Sele Valley. The village, which following the Irpinia earthquake of 1980, was completely destroyed, has 405 inhabitants.
The toponym derives from Menna, the hermit who founded a monastery in the 6th century.
It is said that the town was born around a monastery built by monks who settled there to dedicate their lives to prayer.
The scholar Francesco di Geronimo claimed that Narsete, a Byzantine general, built a church dedicated to San Menna, an Egyptian martyr, between 554 and 555. The town's coat of arms bears the image of the holy warrior, with sword and palm.
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