Venafro (Venafrë in the local dialect) is an Italian town of 11
209 inhabitants in the province of Isernia, in Molise. It is the
fourth largest city in the region by population.
It has very
ancient origins, dating back to the Italic people of the Samnites,
where in the third century BC. they fought bitterly against Rome
during the Samnite wars. In 89 BC Venafrum was the scene of a
decisive battle against Rome where the group of peoples of the
"Italic League" fought in the so-called "Social War". In the Middle
Ages, it was invaded by the Lombards, and from the sixth century it
became the seat of a diocese, as well as an important transit center
from Molise and Abruzzo to Naples. From the 15th century it was
owned by the Pandone family, which contributed to the economic
recovery of the center. In 1860 he hosted Vittorio Emanuele II on
his way to meet Giuseppe Garibaldi.
The historic center
appears as a fortified village along the escarpment of the mountain,
far from the ancient Roman center, identified in the area of the
amphitheater. The highest point of the village is the Pandone
Castle, while the Cathedral, following the pattern of the ancient
Norman-Lombard cities, is located outside the walls. The urban
layout is very precise, marked by cardo and decumanus, and is
affected by the architectural influence of the Neapolitan Baroque.
At the center there are two other important monuments: the French
military war cemetery, and the convent of San Nicandro, which became
a sanctuary already at the time of Padre Pio's visit in the early
1900s, requiring medical treatment for his illnesses.
The municipality is located in the extreme western
Molise on the border with Lazio and Campania (it is also one of the
four municipalities of the Molise region, together with Pizzone,
Pozzilli and Tufara, whose territory borders on two regions) and
rises at the foot of the mountain Santa Croce (1,026 m asl), at a
height of 222 m asl, while the height of the municipal area varies
from 158 to 1,205 m asl The municipal territory extends into the
plain of the same name, crossed by the Volturno and San Bartolomeo
rivers, whose sources are located right in the center of Venafro,
where the "la pescara" lake is located. The main reliefs that
surround the plain in order of altitude are: Monte Sambucaro (1205
m), Monte Cesima (1180 m), Monte Corno (1054 m), Monte Santa Croce
or Cerino (1026 m), Colle San Domenico (921 m) ).
Once part
of the province of Terra di Lavoro (also known as Liburia), it was
located in Campania, a territory with which it still has
linguistic-cultural affinities, but in 1863 it was annexed to the
current Molise and is today known as the gateway of Molise and is of
great socio-economic importance in the Molise landscape, thanks to
the development of the nearby industrial center which constitutes
the fourth industrial center of the region.
It is an
obligatory transit point from Campania (through the state road 85
"Venafrana" or, in the case of south-east routes with the new
External Variation, inaugurated in September 2008, which avoids the
inhabited center) or from Lazio (through the SS 6 - dir., the branch
of the state road 6 Casilina towards Cassino).
On
the basis of the 30-year reference average 1961-1990, the average
temperature of the coldest month, January, is +6.8 ° C; that of the
hottest month, August, is +24.9 ° C.
The city of Venafro is
located on a plain surrounded by mountains and this makes the
climate sub-continental temperate with moderate temperature
variations. The highest point of the inhabited center (the historic
center) reaches 245 m a.s.l., while in the plain the average
altitude is between 170 and 190 m a.s.l. Winter is moderately cold
with night temperatures that in anticyclonic periods often fall
below zero. Precipitation is frequent and abundant while snowfalls
are limited to a few and rare episodes of weak entity with slight
accumulations. Cold waves are caused by the arrival of north-eastern
winds which make the climate harsh but mostly sunny; snowfalls
rarely occur on these occasions.
Summer is very hot with
temperatures that frequently go above 30 ° C and with rather
recurring muggy conditions. In the most intense heat waves it is
possible to reach 36 ° C -38 ° C. Summer stability is interrupted by
afternoon thunderstorms, typical of inland areas. Ventilation, on
the other hand, is predominantly weak.
Spring and autumn are
mild seasons with frequent rainfall, especially in October and
November, sometimes abundant. Being intermediate seasons, the
temperature changes are very important; there is no lack of episodes
of cold especially in spring, as well as remnants of summer in
autumn.
The average annual rainfall is around 1100–1300 mm
and is concentrated in the cold half-year, in summer the rainfall is
limited to periodic afternoon thunderstorms.
Although its foundation is attributed to Diomede, a character from
Greek mythology son of Tideo and Deipile, it has Samnite origins in
the ancient name of Venafrum.
In the plain, numerous
artifacts have been found at various points that suggest the
existence of human settlements already in prehistoric times. During
the Social War, the Frentano Mario Egnazio treacherously conquered
it and killed six Roman cohorts. Silla also razed it to the ground.
In January 49 BC Pompeo Magno, coming from Teano, stopped there. But
the first certain news of the existence of Venafro dates back to 300
AD. when it was under the jurisdiction of the Romans with
Maximilian, immediately playing an important and strategic role so
as to be a Roman colony with Augustus (Colonia Augusta Julia
Venafrum), and incorporated the characteristic urban layout,
partially preserved in the current town. In the Augustan period much
attention was given to the aqueduct (Rivus Venafranus) which carried
the water of the Volturno river from Rocchetta to Volturno to
Venafro. Renowned for fertility and amenities, it is remembered by
Horace as a holiday resort, and Pliny the Elder speaks of a diuretic
spring located there. In Roman times it boasts of a developed
economy with the renowned oil that according to legend was brought
by Licinius who speaks of it in many of his works. Martial testifies
to the fertility of the soil and the fame of the Venafrano oil.
Between 774 and 787 the Venafro plain was crossed by the troops
of Charlemagne who clashed with those of the Lombards of the
Principality of Benevento.
It suffered serious damage in the
earthquake of 1349 and that of 1456.
In 1495 it gave
hospitality to the troops of Charles VIII of France passing through
the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples (Ferdinand II of Aragon).
After the dark period of the Middle Ages that saw Venafro sink
into misery and disease, in the following centuries the city
experienced an era of expansion and prosperity, just think of the
numerous buildings dating back to this era that changed the face of
the city with monumental churches and palaces.
Venafro has
been a bishopric since the 5th century. The last feudal lords were
the Savellis, the Peretti and the Caracciolos of Miranda.
In
1811 the district of Piedimonte d'Alife was established, which
included the entire north-eastern area of the district of Capua
and the districts of Venafro and Colli detached from the district of
Sora. With the Garibaldian occupation and the annexation to the
Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860 the district was suppressed.
On
24 and 25 October 1860 Venafro hosted King Vittorio Emanuele II of
Savoy on his way to go to Teano to meet Giuseppe Garibaldi. The
Sovereign came from Isernia where he had arrived on 23 October and
had taken up residence in the Cimorelli Palace in Isernia, located
in the street that later took his name, guest of Vincenzo Cimorelli
(* 5.4.1796 † 9.8.1889. He was Mayor of Isernia) (Raffaele de
Cesare: The end of a kingdom, Milan 1969, p. 963). The following day
he left again arriving in Venafro where he took up residence in
Palazzo Cotugno and subsequently in Palazzo Cimorelli, guest of
Nicola Cimorelli (* 20.2.1823 † 2.8.1892: son of Vincenzo and Mayor
of Venafro) and his wife Giulia dei Marchesi Parisi of Rignano (*
29.3.1833 † 19.6.1900). To the Marchesa Giulia Parisi he gave a
jewel of great value: a bracelet that can be transformed into a
diadem (see photo). On the Cimorelli palace in Venafro there is a
plaque: «King Vittorio Emanuele came with a few weapons and infinite
votes of the people to consecrate the Italianity of these provinces
and was in this guest house of Nicola Cimorelli on 24 and 25 October
1860. The Town Hall of Venafro in memory of the auspicious event and
of the meritorious citizen placed this memory on March 4, 1898, the
fiftieth anniversary of constitutional liberties "(Francesco
Colitto: Emperors, Kings and Queens in Molise: Vittorio Emanuele II.
S. Giorgio Editrice, Campobasso 1978) .- [Vittorio Emanuele II] «he
left Venafro on the 25th and spent the night in Presenzano, in the
Del Balzo castle, on top of the hill. On the morning of the 26th he
left for Teano with a column of Cialdini's troops; and between
Caianello and Teano he met Garibaldi »(De Cesare, End of a Kingdom,
2005 p. 887, Capone Editore / Edition of the Grifo, Lecce). (The
diadem bracelet is now in the possession of the Cimorelli Heirs).
Until 1863 Venafro was included in the territory of the Terra di
Lavoro in the province of Caserta, falling first into the District
of Sora and then from 1811 with the birth of the Piedimonte d'Alife
District it was annexed to the latter. It was the capital of the
district first and of the district after.
On May 10, 1863
there was the annexation to the province of Campobasso, despite the
controversies and protests of the citizens and the municipal council
of the time, which instead favored to remain part of the province of
Caserta. It definitively became part of the Molise region.
During the war against banditry, General Ferdinando Augusto Pinelli
had Venafro deleted from the topographic map.
In October 1911
the Provincial Father, Benedetto da San Marco in Lamis, accompanied
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, who was sick, to Naples to the famous
doctor Antonio Cardarelli, who suggested taking him to Venafro.
During the month and a half spent in this convent, the fraternity
became aware of the first supernatural phenomena: divine ecstasies
lasting up to an hour and diabolical apparitions, of short duration.
On 13 April 1914 with Royal Decree (registered at the Court of
Auditors on 28 August 1914 under Reg. 50, sheet 12) the municipality
acquired the title of City of Venafro in the acts and seal.
Between the autumn of 1943 and the spring of 1944 it was the scene,
like other surrounding villages (Pozzilli, Filignano, San Pietro
Infine and others), of fierce fighting between the Germans,
barricaded on the mountains to the north and the
Anglo-Franco-American , along the Gustav line, for the conquest of
Cassino and Montecassino. Mistaken for the latter by the
Anglo-American pilots, Venafro was hit hard by the allied bombing on
March 15, 1944 which caused about 400 civilian and military
casualties.
Between the town of Venafro and the Capuchin
convent, there is the French military cemetery for the fallen of the
Second World War belonging to the Corps Expeditionnaire Français
(CEF) led by Alphonse Juin, who placed his headquarters in the town.
In 1970 it was included in the newly formed province of Isernia,
of which it is currently part and on whose belonging the
municipality, in the periods preceding its establishment, a
parochial discussion took place.
In the spring of 1984 it was
badly damaged by the earthquake that originated in the nearby Comino
Valley, in the province of Frosinone.
In 1986 the two
episcopal sees of the diocese of Isernia and Venafro were united
aeque principaliter constituting the current diocese of
Isernia-Venafro. The ancient cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
assumed the title of co-cathedral.
In 1987 the city was one
of the 100 municipalities of the "little big Italy", following the
Censis report.
Since 1994, together with other 338 members,
he has been part of the A.N.C.O.
On 25 April 2005, Venafro
obtained the gold medal for civil valor from the President of the
Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for the tragic aerial bombardment
suffered on 15 March 1944.