Sarno is a town and '' comune'' and former Latin Catholic bishopric of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 20 km northeast from the city of Salerno and 60 km east of Naples by the main railway.

Overview

It lies at the foot of the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, near the sources of the Sarno River, called Sarnus in ancient times, a stream connected by canal with

Pompei Pompei (; nap, Pumpeje, ) or Pompeii (, as in the name of the ancient city) is a city and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy, home of the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. History ...

and the sea. Paper, cotton, silk,

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

and

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

are manufactured. The travertine which forms round the springs of the Sarno was used even at ancient Pompeii as building material.

History

The area of Sarno has been inhabited since the Neolithic, and in pre-historical times housed Oscan and

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...

settlements. Later it was acquired by the Romans, who held it until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. The first nucleus of the future Sarno grew in the 8th century around a castle founded by the Lombards of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

. Before its incorporation into the domains of the crown of Naples, Sarno gave its name to a county held in succession by the Orsini, Coppola, Tuttavilla, and Colonna families. On May 5, 1998 Sarno and the neighbouring villages of Quindici, Siano and Bracigliano were devastated by a series of landslides. Oone hundred eighty houses were destroyed, 450 were severely damaged, and 161 people died in what was one of the worst catastrophes of its kind in modern Italy. The landslides had been caused by several days of torrential rainfalls but were also blamed on agricultural, residential, industrial

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

, and the lack of any substantial environmental programs. The catastrophe prompted the Italian Ministry of the Environment to introduce legislative measures for environmental protection which have come to be known as ''legge Sarno''.

Ecclesiastical history

The Diocese of Sarno was established circa 1000 AD, presumably as

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oristano. In 1534 it lost territory to the

Diocese of Nola The Diocese of Nola ( la, Dioecesis Nolana) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples.Cava de' Tirreni was held in personal union with Sarno (united ''aeque principaliter'') from 27 June 1818 till 25 September 1972. Suppressed on 30 September 1986, its territory and title being merged into the thus renamed

Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno The Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno (Latin: ''Dioecesis Nucerina Paganorum-Sarnensis'') is a Roman Catholic diocese located in the Campania region of Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

) Suffragan Bishops of Sarno (without ordinals; ''first incumbent(s) lacking?) * Riso (1066? – ?) * Giovanni (1111–1118) * Giovanni (1119–1134) * Pietro (1134–1156) * Giovanni (1156–1180) * Unfrido (1180–1202) * Tibaldo (1201–1208) * Ruggiero (1209–1216) * Giovanni (1216–1224) * Giovanni (1224–1258) * Angelo d’Aquino (1258–1265) * Giovanni (1265–1296) * Guglielmo (1296–1309) * Ruggiero De Canalibus (1310–1316) * Ruggiero (1316–1316) * Ruggiero De Miramonte (1316–1324) * Antonio da Ancona (1324–1326) * Napoleone (1326–1330) * Nicola (1330 – death 1333) * Francesco, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (13 March 1333 – 1340) * Napoleone (1340–1350) * Teobaldo (25 April 1350 – 1370) * Giovanni (1372–1404) * Giovanni (1404–1407) * Francesco Mormile (1407–1408), later Bishop of Cava (Italy) (1408–1419) * Giovanni (1408–1414) * Francesco Anconitano (1414–1419) * Marco da Teramo (29 December 1418 – death 1439); previously Bishop of Monopoli (Italy) (24 March 1400 – 15 December 1404), Bishop of

Bertinoro Bertinoro () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna (Italy). It is located on hill Mount Cesubeo, in Romagna, a few kilometers from the Via Emilia. History There are remains of a settlement dating from the Iron ...

(Italy) (15 December 1404 – 29 December 1418) * Andrea da Nola (23 October 1439 – 1454) * Ludovico Dell'Aquila (1454–1470) * Antonio de' Pazzi (1475 – 26 February 1477), later Bishop of

Mileto Mileto ( Calabrian: ; grc, Μίλητος, translit=Míletos) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about south of Vibo Valentia. Mileto is the ...

(Italy) (26 February 1477 – death 1479) * Giovanni da Viterbo (30 September 1478 – 16 February 1481), later Bishop of

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

(Italy) (16 February 1481 – death 25 November 1496) * Andrea De Ruggiero (16 February 1481 – 1482) * Andrea Dei Pazzi (16 February 1482 – 1498) * Agostino Tuttavilla (1498–1501) * Giorgio Maccafani de' Pireto (1501–1516), previously Bishop of Civita Castellana e Orte (Italy) (24 September 1498 – 1501)

Main sights

Sarno has the ruins of a medieval castle, which belonged to Count Francesco Coppola, who took an important part in the conspiracy of the barons against

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...

in 1485. Walter III of Brienne is buried in the ancient church of ''Santa Maria della Foce'', rebuilt in 1701.

Sarno Cathedral Sarno Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Sarno; Basilica Concattedrale di San Michele Arcangelo) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Michael in Sarno, a municipality in the province of Salerno, region of Campania, Italy. Formerly the seat ...

is near the town centre.

References

Sources and external links

*
GCatholic, with incumbent bio links
* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Campania