Albanella is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Salerno The Province of Salerno ( it, Provincia di Salerno) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. __TOC__ Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Battipagli ...

in the

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

region of south-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is located 51 kilometers from the city of Salerno. The town slogan is , which translates to "the land of the olive trees" in English. Olive oil is one of the principal products of the town.

Geography

The town is located halfway between

Monti Alburni The Alburni are an Italian mountain range of the Province of Salerno, Campania, part of the Apennines. Due to their geomorphology, they are popularly known as the "''Dolomites of Campania''" or of Southern Italy. The highest mountain is the P ...

and the Gulf of Salerno, on a hill commanding the plain of the Sele River. The rest of the municipal area is either flat or, between the Sele and

Calore Lucano The Calore Lucano (or ''Calore Salernitano'') is a river in Campania, southern Italy, whose course is entirely included in the province of Salerno, within Cilento, for a total of about . It is an important left tributary of the Sele. In ancient ...

rivers to the north and Monte Soprano (1,082 m) to the south, hilly.

History

Lying on hills rich with

olive trees The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

, Albanella was founded in the 11th century by refugees from

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

, seeking for a site which would be safe from

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

raids. The most ancient settlement is in fact on the hill's side which is hidden from the sea. Several archaeological findings are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Paestum and in the National Archaeological Museum of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

''Frazioni''

The comune includes the following hamlets (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

''):

Matinella

Matinella is the largest frazione in the comune of Albanella, located about 6 km from the center of the township at the intersection of roads from Eboli (via

Persano Serre is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History The town is medieval and was founded at the end of the 10th century. Geography Serre is a hilltown located in northern Cilento. Its ...

) and

Altavilla Silentina Altavilla Silentina is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Salerno, Campania, some 100 km south of Naples, Italy. Geography Altavilla Silentina is spread on two ridges of a hill. It is shielded on the northeastern side by the ...

which leads to Capaccio-Paestum, and the Provincial Road No. 11 from Ponte Barizzo which leads to Albanella. Because of the low-lying country in recent decades the village has experienced significant population growth that has brought almost a third of the municipal population. Albanella via Roma

Borgo San Cesareo

In 1950, the government launched a series of legislative measures in Agrarian Reform. These measures, implemented in specific provinces (Campania, Lazio, Puglia, etc. ..) had the goal of expropriating the land of large landowners to local laborers and peasants. This led to the creation of the agricultural village and frazione of Borgo San Cesareo, a small village which is about 9 km from Albanella town.

San Nicola

The frazione of San Nicola is located halfway between Albanella town and the frazione Matinella along the Provincial Road 11. Its development is due to the important road junction that links to Albanella and which leads to

and Eboli.

Bosco

Bosco is an ancient frazione which takes its name from the vast forests on the slopes of the hills that once lay to the north-east of the village. After centuries of deforestation for timber and to create land for pasture or cultivation the ancient "Bosco" forest is only a small area today of about one hundred acres, bordering the territory of Castelcivita and

Roccadaspide Roccadaspide (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Geography The town is located in the north-west side of Cilento, not too far from Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a ...

, saved through by the WWF.

Main sights

Church of Santa Sofia

Built in the 16th century. Albanella San Matteo

Church of St. Matthew (San Matteo)

Dating back to 1400, this church stands in the heart of the historic center on a small hill where there was previously an old Roman settlement. The church is characterized by two aisles and a bell tower in Romanesque style, and has a great organ.

Chapel of the Congregation of SS. Rosario

It is located in the old town opposite the Church of St. Matthew. It is the newest of the three Catholic churches in Albanella, dating back to the 19th century. The external façade has a

majolica In different periods of time and in different countries, the term ''majolica'' has been used for two distinct types of pottery. Firstly, from the mid-15th century onwards, was ''maiolica'', a type of pottery reaching Italy from Spain, Majorca a ...

panel, realized in Vietri, depicting the Madonna del Rosario between St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.

Church of San Gennaro

Better known as the Church of St. Anne (Chiesa di Sant'Anna) because of the statue of the saint, it is located in the frazione of Matinella.

Church of San Giuseppe Lavoratore

A modern church built in the 20th century located in the frazione of Borgo San Cesareo.

Wind farm

On the hill of San Chirico, a few kilometres west of Albanella town, are ten

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s, visible from the Amalfi Coast. The plant, which was established in February 2004, features ten wind turbines (model V52) of 850 kW each producing more than 20 million kWh per year. The wind farm has been designed and developed by the IWT (Italian Wind Technology) headed the Danish multinational

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...

Twin towns

Thrakomakedones Thrakomakedones (Greek: Θρακομακεδόνες from Thrace and Macedonia), is a town in the regional unit East Attica, in Attica region, Greece. It is a northern suburb of Athens. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the muni ...

(

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

)

References

External links

Albanella official site
{{authority control Cities and towns in Campania Localities of Cilento