Casertavecchia

Last updated
Casertavecchia
1 Casertavecchia 9.jpg
Landscape
Italy provincial location map 2016.svg
Red pog.svg
Casertavecchia
Location of Casertavecchia in Italy
Coordinates: 41°05′48″N14°21′59″E / 41.09667°N 14.36639°E / 41.09667; 14.36639
CountryFlag of Italy.svg  Italy
Region Flag of Campania.svg  Campania
Province Caserta (CE)
Comune Caserta
Elevation
401 m (1,316 ft)
Population
 (2009)
  Total187
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
81100
Dialing code (+39) 0823
The Cathedral of St. Michael Casertavecchia cattedrale San Michele 02sett08 f01.jpg
The Cathedral of St. Michael

Casertavecchia is a frazione of Caserta, Italy. It is the site of a former medieval village that lies at the foot of the Tifatini Mountains located 10km north-east of the City of Caserta, at an altitude of approximately 401 meters. Its name, translated from Italian, means "Old Caserta".

Contents

History

Early history

Casertavecchia tower Casertavecchia torre 02-09-08 f01.jpg
Casertavecchia tower

The origins of Casertavecchia are uncertain, but according to the Benedictine monk, Erchempert, in Ystoriola Langobardorum Beneventi degentium, the village was founded in 861 AD. The previous Roman town was called "Casam Irtam" (from the Latin meaning "home village located above").

The village was initially conquered and ruled by the Lombards. Subsequent Saracen depredations led to the fortified mountain village becoming the Bishopric for the province.

Under Norman domination, the village began the construction of its cathedral, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. During this period it was controlled by the Swabian, Riccardo di Lauro (1232–1266), who increased the political power of the town.

The Crown of Aragon conquered the village in 1442 which began its long and gradual decline in importance. Eventually, Casertavecchia would host only the local seminary and the Bishop's seat. Under the rule of the Bourbons, major construction began taking place in the city of Caserta. By 1842 political rule had entirely moved to the great palace in the larger city, with the Casertan diocese finally relocating from Casertavecchia to Caserta.

On October 1, 1860, in the battle of the Volturna, the Neapolitans made one of their last stands of the battle in front of Caserta Vecchia, 400–500 Neapolitan soldiers surrendering to Giuseppe Garibaldi in one of the decisive battles of the Second Italian Independence War.

Recent history

In 1960, Casertavecchia was designated an Italian National Monument.

Today, the village is primarily a tourist destination. Sites worth visiting consist of the church, its bell tower, and the remains [1] of the original castle. Visitors can dine in local pizzerias with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.

See also

Sources and references

  1. "Tower of the castle in Caserta Vecchia (circa 1944 to 1945)". (author=Digital Collections, Northwestern University Libraries; accessdate=Sat May 02 2020, publisher=Northwestern University Libraries, University Archives).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citadel</span> Central military fortification of a town

A citadel is the fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of city, meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cesena</span> Comune in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about 15 kilometres from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137.

Ivrea is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley, it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that in prehistoric times formed a large lake. Today five smaller lakes—Sirio, San Michele, Pistono, Nero and Campagna—are found in the area around the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosenza</span> Comune in Calabria, Italy

Cosenza is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a population of more than 700,000. The demonym of Cosenza in English is Cosentian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teano</span> Comune in Campania, Italy

Teano is a town and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's cathedral is the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Teano-Calvi, which started as the Diocese of Teano circa AD 300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caserta</span> Comune in Campania, Italy

Caserta is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. An important agricultural, commercial, and industrial comune and city, Caserta is located 36 Kilometers north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Campanian Subapennine mountain range. The city is best known for the 18th-century Bourbon Royal Palace of Caserta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massa Marittima</span> Comune in Tuscany, Italy

Massa Marittima is a town and comune of the province of Grosseto, southern Tuscany, Italy, 49 km NNW of Grosseto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bojano</span> Comune in Molise, Italy

Bojano or Boiano is a town and comune in the province of Campobasso, Molise, south-central Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Naples</span> Italian state (661–1137)

The Duchy of Naples began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century. It was governed by a military commander (dux), and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. Naples remains a significant metropolitan city in present-day Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maddaloni</span> Comune in Campania, Italy

Maddaloni is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) southeast of Caserta, with stations on the railways from Caserta to Benevento and from Caserta to Naples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirabello Sannitico</span> Comune in Molise, Italy

Mirabello Sannitico is a small town in the province of Campobasso, Molise, southern Italy. The population is about 2,100 inhabitants. It has an agrarian-based culture and history, dating back to at least the 12th century. Nearby towns include Campobasso to the northwest and Vinchiaturo to the southwest. The Tappino River flows on either side of the town on the north and south.

Erchempert was a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy in the final quarter of the ninth century. He chronicled a history of the Lombard Principality of Benevento, in the Langobardia Minor, giving an especially vivid account of the violence in southern Langobardia. Beginning with Duke Arechis II (758-787) and the Carolingian conquest of Benevento, his history, titled the Historia Langobardorum Beneventanorum degentium, stops abruptly in the winter of 888-889. Just one medieval manuscript of this text survives, from the early fourteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potenza</span> Comune in Basilicata, Italy

Potenza is a comune in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Pisa</span> Italian maritime republic (c. 1000–1406)

The Republic of Pisa was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century and centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century, before being surpassed and superseded by the Republic of Genoa.

Dugenta is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Naples and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Benevento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castel Nuovo</span> Medieval castle in Naples, Italy

Castel Nuovo, often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle located in front of Piazza Municipio and the city hall in central Naples, Campania, Italy. Its scenic location and imposing size makes the castle, first erected in 1279, one of the main architectural landmarks of the city. It was a royal seat for kings of Naples, Aragon and Spain until 1815.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Friuli</span>

The Duchy of Friuli was a Lombard duchy in present-day Friuli, the first to be established after the conquest of the Italian peninsula in 568. It was one of the largest domains in Langobardia Major and an important buffer between the Lombard kingdom and the Slavs, Avars, and the Byzantine Empire. The original chief city in the province was Roman Aquileia, but the Lombard capital of Friuli was Forum Julii, modern Cividale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Volturno</span>

The Battle of the Volturno refers to a series of military clashes between Giuseppe Garibaldi's volunteers and the troops of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies occurring around the River Volturno, between the cities of Capua and Caserta in northern Campania, in September and October 1860. The main battle took place on 1 October 1860 between 30,000 Garibaldines and 25,000 Bourbon troops (Neapolitans).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman conquest of southern Italy</span> Historical event in the European Middle Ages

The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1139, involving many battles and independent conquerors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Caserta</span> Roman Catholic diocese in Italy

The Diocese of Caserta is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Campania, southern Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples. In 1818 Pope Pius VII united this see with the diocese of Caiazzo, but Pope Pius IX made them separate sees. In 2013 in the diocese of Caserta there was one priest for every 1,703 Catholics; in 2016, there was one priest for every 2,008 Catholics. The diocesan Major Seminary currently (2019) has four seminarians.