Cassano Irpino

The Municipality of Cassano Irpino is located in the Calore Valley area. It's a village of 964 inhabitants, located 510 meters above sea level and 35 km from Avellino. The territory extends for 13.07 sq km and the adjoining municipalities are: Montella, Montemarano and Nusco. It is crossed by the Calore river and is rich in important springs. 
The etymology of the name seems to come from the name of the Gens Cassia and the suffix -anus, indicating a Praedium Cassianum, that is a large estate or a rustic villa belonging to that family. The inhabitants are called Cassanesi and Saint Bartholomew the Apostle is their patron saint. 
 

PLACES OF INTEREST

• Springs - Extraordinary spring group, fed by the vast hydro-geological basin of the Picentini Mountains, which satisfies the water needs of millions of people: ideal place for a cultural and environmental visit
• Castle - Medieval structure probably built by the Lombards, then converted into a noble residence and also called, for this reason, "Baronial Palace"
• Church of San Bartolomeo (Saint Bartholomew) - Built in 1557, it's the Mother Church of the municipality
• Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Holy Mary of Graces) - Inside it preserves interesting frescoes from the first half of the 15th century
• Church of Santa Maria La Longa - Built by Amatus, the first bishop of Nusco, in 1080
• Centuries-old lime tree - According to legend, it dates back to the time of the construction of the Church in 1080
• Other churches - Church of S. Rocco (Saint Roch), Church of S. Maria del Carmine (Saint Mary of Mount Carmel), Church of S. Pasquale (Saint Paschal)    

EVENTS

• Chestnut Festival - Food and wine event that occurs on the last Saturday of October
• Back to Middle Ages - A real dive into the past to relive the uses and customs of medieval life, with music, food and wine, crafts of other times and historical re-enactments
• Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle - Religious celebrations in honour of the patron saint on the 24th and 25th of August    

TYPICAL FOOD AND PRODUCTS

• Montella Chestnut PGI - Product with white pulp seed, crunchy and with a pleasant sweet taste. It has a long shelf life, high quality flavour and fragrance and is considered among the best chestnuts produced in Italy 
• Caciocavallo podolico dei Monti Picentini PAT - Tasty and rare cheese aged up to 6 months, raw, hard and spun paste, particularly valuable 
• 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 
• Chestnut nougat PAT - Also called chestnut "pantorrone" o "spantorrone", it's a specialty that has been produced for over 30 years in areas renowned for the cultivation of chestnuts
• Caciocavallo Silano PDO - Semi-hard cheese, with spun curd, produced with milk from different breeds of cows, including Podolica     

FUN FACTS

The sources of Cassano Irpino are capable of gushing 4,000 liters per second, supplying water to the aqueducts of Campania, Puglia and Basilicata, as well as some centres in the province of Campobasso. 
The area in which Cassano Irpino is located was given the nickname "felix" at the time of Silla who, at the end of the Social War (90-88 BC), sent settlers to the ager hirpinus, which extended among the territories of Abellinum, Aeclanum and Compsa. The area in question was probably called "felice"(happy), both for its fertility and the abundance of pastures, and because the dictator, after the Social War, wanted to give himself the nickname "happy". 
 

HISTORICAL NOTES

The origins of Cassano Irpino are very ancient and, according to some hypotheses, they could even date back to the pre-Roman period. Undoubtedly, the numerous archaeological remains found in the municipal area, including tombstones and funerary shrines, preserved today for the most part in the Irpino Museum in Avellino, represent evidence of the presence of settlements during the Roman era. 
Cassano Irpino was, for a long time, a hamlet of the nearby Montella. The same castle which, still today, dominates the entire inhabited centre belonged to the Gastaldate of Montella and, with the progressive succession of numerous families, it was converted into a noble residence. 
The historical events of Cassano Irpino were linked to the territory of belonging until 1806, the year of the abolition of feudalism.

Cassano Irpino, gateway to the waters which quenches the South's thirst. A muffled world, that of the area where the Apulian aqueduct begins, which bursts forth and offers experiences to discover the spring with your family, which magically comes out of the earth thanks to the pressure that breaks the crust