Arienzo is a town and ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' in the
Province of Caserta
The province of Caserta () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and a population of 907,442. The Palace of Caserta is located nea ...
,
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
, southern Italy. It is located across the
Appian Way
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...
.
Main sights
On the hill above the town are the ruins of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
castle dismantled by
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek language, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily and Kingdom of Africa, Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon, C ...
in 1135 during his struggle against rebellious barons.
[Alexander of Telese,'' De rebus gestis Rogerii Siciliae regis'', III,c. 33.] The new town ("Terra Murata", which means walled or fortified town) was built at the foot of the hill under the king's supervision and has remained intact to this day.
Although the large parish church of Sant'Andrea was founded during the
Norman domination (1151) it contains almost nothing from that period. There is a fresco of the Last Judgement that covers the walls of a large chapel to the left of the entrance (1602). The church also contains several wooden sculptures from the 16th and 17th centuries, including a statue of Saint Andrew.
The
Capuchin monastery situated on a nearby hill and immersed in its own citrus tree orchard was built in 1561, though the church was rebuilt in the 18th century. The single-nave church dedicated to the Madonna degli Angeli contains several important paintings: a ''Nativity ''by the early 16th century Calabrian painter
Pietro Negroni
Pietro Negroni, also called Il Giovane Zingaro (''the young gypsy'') and Lo zingarello di Cosenza (''the little gypsy from Cosenza'')Marisa Reale, Pietro Negroni - Lo zingarello di Cosenza, , FPE Franco Pangallo Editore, 2011 ( – 1565), was a ...
and a ''Madonna Enthroned '' by Francesco Celebrano.
Saint Leopoldo Mandic lived here for a year towards the end of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
People
Giacomo Furia
Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998.
Life and career
Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting care ...
, the theatre and film actor, was born in Arienzo.
St. Alphonse Liguori, bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths, made this his episcopal residence when his health began to decline.
References
External links
*http://www.comune.arienzo.ce.it
Cities and towns in Campania
{{Campania-geo-stub