Torella dei Lombardi

The Municipality of Torella dei Lombardi is located in the Upper Irpinia area. It's a town with 2,051 inhabitants, located 666 metres above sea level, at 43 km from Avellino. The territory extends for 26.57 sq km and the adjoining municipalities are: Castelfranci, Nusco, Paternopoli, Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi and Villamaina. Its sources contribute to the birth of the great Ofanto river.
The etymology of the name dates back to the period of contention between the Lombard Principalities of Benevento and Salerno, around the year 850. In fact, to defend the border of the Principality of Salerno, a fort was built which, due to its modest size, was called Turrella, from which the current toponym derives. The inhabitants are called Torellesi and Saint Eustace the Martyr is their patron.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Ruspoli-Candriano Castle - Built in the 9th century and expertly restored, it's now the Town Hall and houses a museum, a restaurant, the Pro Loco and an exhibition dedicated to Sergio Leone
Norman Tower of Girifalco - Situated on the homonymous hill, in a wood of centuries-old oaks, it stands out for its quadrangular shape with thick walls; built in the 12th century, it has the typical characteristics of Norman military architecture
Civic Museum Turella Parva Turris - Born with the intention of accommodating the artefacts found in the course of archaeological investigations in the Castle, it has progressively expanded and now offers an exhaustive sampling of the 30,000 finds
Monumental Fountain - Located in the lower part of the town, it was built towards the middle of the 19th century, in order to supply the people of Torello with water from the many neighbouring springs
Church of Santa Maria del Popolo (Our Lady of the People) - New church, built in a different place from the original one: it preserves, of the ancient structure, the portal, some stone markers and bases of the old bell tower
Other churches - Church of S.Anna (Saint Anne), Church of S.Antonio (Saint Anthony), Church of S.Maria del Carmine (Saint Mary of Mount Carmel), Church of S. Maria del Perillo (Our Lady for Protection Against Danger) Church of S.Vito (Saint Vitus), Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo (Saints John and Paul)

EVENTS

Ancient Flavours - Food and wine event held in summer representing a cultural contamination between Irpinian flavours and western scenarios in memory of Sergio Leone
Bonfire of Saint Anthony - Popular event that is renewed every January 17th, with the lighting of traditional bonfires
Feast of Saint Eustace the Martyr - Religious celebrations in honour of the patron saint, scheduled for September

TYPICAL FOOD AND PRODUCTS

Irpinia Colline dell'Ufita PDO  - Extra virgin olive oil deriving largely from the Ravece variety, characterized by a pleasant bitter and spicy taste
Ricotta di Carmasciano PAT - White, with a soft and creamy consistency, obtained from the residual whey from the processing of the homonymous pecorino, very valuable
Cured meats - Torello's cured meats have a great tradition with the production of: soppressata Irpina, capicollo, stretched pancetta, rolled pancetta
Caciocavallo Silano PDO - Semi-hard cheese, with spun curd, produced with milk from different breeds of cows, including Podolica
Caciocavallo irpino di grotta PAT - Spun curd cheese, produced with milk from small and medium-sized farms, mainly from brown cattle, traditionally aged in caves

FUN FACTS

Torella dei Lombardi is the town of origin of Roberto Roberti, pseudonym of Vincenzo Leone, father of the famous director Sergio Leone. A film festival was established in his memory in 2004.
Inside the Ruspoli-Candriano Castle, there is a small museum, where original costumes and scripts of the most famous films of the famous western film director are preserved.

HISTORICAL NOTES

The first news regarding Torella dei Lombardi dates back to 1151 and is testified by a document that speaks of the existence of the Castle as a Roman pagus.
Following the fall of Conza, by Robert Guiscard, the fiefdom was conquered by the Normans, followed by the Swabians, Angevins and Aragonese. After a long period of belonging to the Saraceno family, in the 16th century Torella passed into the hands of the Caracciolo family, whose members, in 1638, obtained the title of princes of Candriano.
With the Unification of Italy, Torella acquired the specification "dei Lombardi" (of the Lombards), in order to distinguish itself from the locality of the same name in the province of Campobasso, today called Torella del Sannio.