Roccamonfina is a ''
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 ...
'' (municipality) in the
Province of Caserta in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
region
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 ...
, located about northwest of
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and about northwest of
Caserta
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 kilometres north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian p ...
.
In the communal territory is the extinct
volcano of Roccamonfina. The fossil human footprints called
Ciampate del Diavolo have been found there. The town is surrounded by dense groves of
sweet chestnut
The sweet chestnut (''Castanea sativa''), also known as the Spanish chestnut or European chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A ...
trees.
History
In the territory of the volcano are traces of
Ausonian or
Auruncan settlements, with remains of polygonal walls dating to the 6th-5th century BC. Findings of coins and inscriptions seem to confirm the presence of a settlement in the current town as early as the 3rd century BC, although it is mentioned only in the 10th century AD.
In the Middle Ages and the modern era it was a fief of Neapolitan and Papal noble families, while under the
Bourbon rulers it was a direct possession of the crown of the
Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and land are ...
.
Main sights
Roccamonfina's main attraction is the sanctuary of ''Maria Santissima dei Lattani'', founded in 1430 by St.
Bernardino of Siena
Bernardino of Siena, Order of Friars Minor, OFM (Bernardine or Bernadine; 8 September 138020 May 1444), was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholasticism, ...
and St.
James of the Marches and enlarged to the current shape in 1448–1507. The façade has a large portico with the original wooden door from 1507. The interior has a nave with no aisles, and 15th and 17th centuries frescoes. The Chapel of the Virgin of the Lattani has a statue of "Madonna with Child", dating perhaps to the 9th century. The convent has a two-storey cloister.
The Collegiate church of ''Santa Maria Maggiore'' is of medieval origin, but its current appearance dates to the 1715 restoration. In the same square is the ''Palazzo Colletta''.
External links
Official website
Cities and towns in Campania
{{Campania-geo-stub