Cervinara

Cervinara
—  Comune  —
Comune di Cervinara
Cervinara Location of Cervinara in Italy
Coordinates: 41°1′17″N 14°36′55″E
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Province	Avellino (AV)
Frazioni	Castello, Curielli, Ferrari, Ioffredo, Pantanari, Pirozza, Salomoni, San Marciano, San Potito, Scalamoni, Trescine, Valle
Area
• Total	29.20 km2 (11.27 sq mi)
Elevation	284 m (932 ft)
Population (1 May 2009)
• Total	9,986
• Density	340/km2 (890/sq mi)
Demonym	Cervinaresi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	83012
Dialing code	0824
Patron saint	San Gennaro
Saint day	19 September
Website	Official website

Cervinara is an Italian town (comune) of 10,188 inhabitants in the province of Avellino, Campania. It has an area of 29.2 square kilometers and a population density of 347.6 inhabitants per square kilometer. It rises 284 meters above sea level.

History

Legend has it that the name "Cervinara" comes from an altar dedicated by the Romans to Ceres, goddess of the harvest. The name appears for the first time in 837 AD, which describes the donation of "castrum quod dicitur in Cerbinaria Caudetanis" the Prince of Benevento Sicardo by the monks of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The village, probably built between the ninth and tenth centuries AD, age Lombard, when populations are concentrated, from the countryside around the fortified castle in the village.

Cervinara had many landowners, including the Lioness, the Filangieri, the Carafa, the Caracciolo and Sant'Eramo. From feudalism to early 1800, Cervinara saw a distinctive agricultural development, mainly due to the particularly fertile soil.

During the Italian unification, the Cervinaresi contributed to the liberal movements of 1820 and 1848, when the conspirators decided to start from Cervinara to march on Naples and established the Republic. However, the revolutionary ferment never managed to involve the majority of the population, and on 29 & 30 November 1860, Cervinara sided with the Bourbons, and the government rose up against Torino, who arrived in the Kingdom of Naples to occupy it.

In the nineteenth century, during the Brigandage in the Two Sicilies, the bands of Cyprian and Jonah La Gala chose as a refuge in the mountains above the village to fight against the foreign invader. This sad period, which took the form of a real guerrilla war, has been portrayed by two distinguished cervinaresi: the historian Luigi Barionovi in a series of studies related to the territory not only Cervinarese, and Angelo Renna, the writer of the historical novel Land of Brigands .

Monuments & places of interest

View of the Castle and village of Lombard tower

The Cervinarese artistic heritage contains several monuments, as well as the medieval tower of the Lombard era, now demolished, in the Castello, in the hamlet Ferrari arise Abbey San Gennaro, built around 1100 and now dedicated to the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows and the Palace Marchesale, built in the second half of the sixteenth century.

The country lends itself particularly to tourism. In fact, you can go hiking in the mountains, reached the clear springs of water ice, the Red Water, the Pisciariello. You can walk up to the Plain of Lauro (about 1110 meters above sea level) where in good weather, you can enjoy a splendid view and observe Vesuvius. Due to heavy rains on 16 December 1999 a landslide struck the villages of mud and Ioffredo Castle, claiming five victims, and destroying or damaging several buildings.

Cuisine

For lovers of good food is a must to taste the genuine food of the country, lavanelle (homemade) with beans, Menesta 'o Pignato, fusilli, gnocchi, meat village, and ruocculi sasicchie, different types of game, wild boar, pheasant, grilled potatoes, roasted peppers, pastries made ​​with chestnuts, porcini mushrooms, truffles, all washed down by excellent local wines, Aglianico in the first place.

Typical dish and old, almost forgotten by all, are stuffed with ricotta ravioli served with tomato sauce and sugar to fresh tomatoes. This dish represents the tradition of Cervinara. This is demonstrated by the fact that in the past characterized the sweet and sour cuisine Irpinia.