Casertavecchia cattedrale San Michele 02sett08 f01

Casertavecchia is a frazione of

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial '' comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Ca ...

, 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".

History

Early history

The origins of Casertavecchia are uncertain, but according to the Benedictine monk,

Erchempert Erchempert ( la, Erchempertus) 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 espe ...

, 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 In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

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 The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Ba ...

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 The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...

, major construction began taking place in the city of

. 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 (author=Digital Collections, Northwestern University Libraries; accessdate=Sat May 02 2020, publisher=Northwestern University Libraries, University Archives). of the original castle. Visitors can dine in local

pizzerias This list of pizza chains includes notable pizzerias and pizza chains. Pizza is a dish of Neapolitan origin and cuisine, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and mozzarel ...

with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.

Gallery

File:Caserta flickr02.jpg, Streets at night File:Casertavecchia chiesetta 02-09-08 f01.jpg, Old church

Sources and references

''Historia Langabardorvm Beneventarnorvm'' at The Latin Library
* ttp://www.cesn.it/Cronisti/testi/Erchemperto.doc ''Ystoriola Langobardorum Beneventi degentium'' from the Monumenta Germaniae Historica

External links