Arienzo

Comune in Campania, Italy

Coat of arms

Location of Arienzo

41°1′N 14°30′E / 41.017°N 14.500°E / 41.017; 14.500CountryItalyRegionCampaniaProvinceCaserta (CE)FrazioniCrisci, Costa, Signorindico, CapodiconcaGovernment

• MayorGiuseppe GuidaArea

^[1]

• Total14 km² (5 sq mi)Elevation

70 m (230 ft)Population

(28 February 2017)^[2]

• Total5,374 • Density380/km² (990/sq mi)DemonymArienzaniTime zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code

81021

Dialing code0823WebsiteOfficial website

Arienzo is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located across the Appian Way.

Main sights

On the hill above the town are the ruins of the medieval castle dismantled by Roger II of Sicily in 1135 during his struggle against rebellious barons.^[3] 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 and a Madonna Enthroned by Francesco Celebrano. Saint Leopoldo Mandic lived here for a year towards the end of World War I.

People

Giacomo Furia, 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

^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
^ Alexander of Telese, De rebus gestis Rogerii Siciliae regis, III,c. 33.