Guardia Lombardi

The Municipality of Guardia Lombardi is located in the Ufita Valley area. It's a town of 1,580 inhabitants, located 998 meters above sea level and 62 km from Avellino. The territory extends for 55.87 sq km and the adjoining municipalities are: Andretta, Bisaccia, Carife, Frigento, Morra De Sanctis, Rocca San Felice, Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Vallata. This is where the Fredane river originates.
The etymology of the name would seem to come from the term “guarda, garda” which enters the composition of many toponyms and alludes to the existence of a guard post. The inhabitants are called Guardiesi and Saint Leo IX is their patron saint.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Saint Mary of Graces) - Founded in 1315, it's the Mother Church dedicated to Our Lady of Graces
Church of San Vito (Saint Vitus) - Also called "Church of the Miracle" it was built around the 17th century, together with the Convent of the Augustinian Fathers
Church of San Pietro (Saint Peter) - Born from the construction of a small chapel in 1908
Museum of Technologies, Culture and Peasant Civilization of Upper Irpinia - Museum in which about 480 pieces and 501 photographs are exhibited
War Memorial - Stele dedicated to the war dead in Piazza Vittoria
Church of Santa Maria dei Manganelli - Built by the Franciscan Fathers around 1600 in the district of the same name, in an area that remained semi-deserted following the plague of 1656
Stone of Shame and of the Insolvent AD 1611 in via Roma- A sort of pillory to which the insolvent were linked, exposed to public derision
Fountains - Beveri Fountain, Tolla Fountain, Manganelli Fountain (with amphitheatre, picnic area and playground) Saint Leo Fountain, Saint Mary Fountain. Other fountains are: Matrone, Righiera, San Leonardo, Frassino, Volacchio, Della Calce, Lavagnili, Pietri di Sotto, Dell'Agata, Fontanili, Tonsone

EVENTS

Feast in honour of Santa Maria dei Manganelli - Sacred and historic event dedicated to Santa Maria dei Manganelli, which involves the inhabitants of Guardia Lombardi around the world and occurs on the 21st and 22nd of June
Feast in honour of Saint Peter the Apostle - Prayer event, historical but also folkloric, which occurs on the 28th and 29th of June
Feast of the Saint Patron Leo IX and Co-Patrons - Civil and religious program which takes place in August and is dedicated to the patron saints
Fair of Saint Leo IX - Patronal feast which occurs on the 19th of April and is one of the traditional festivals of the Campania food and wine festivals
Feast of Saint Gaetano - Seasonal local feast with tourist attractions on the 7th of August

TYPICAL FOOD AND PRODUCTS

Lamb of Carmasciano PAT - Fresh meat of lambs of the Laticauda and Bagnolese breeds, carefully reared using herbs and hay enriched by the sulphurous exhalations of Mefite
Pecorino di Carmasciano PAT - Sheep cheese produced in the locality of the same name located between Guardia Lombardi and Rocca San Felice: with an absolutely unique taste, it is characterized by an accurate, entirely artisanal preparation
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
Acqua sala - Bread topped with garlic, oil and chilli
Pertecaregna style salted codfish - Fried salted codfish cod with garlic, oil and chilli Cìngule e foglie - Cavatelli and broccoli
leaves Léttle' - Dried pumpkin strips, fried with garlic, oil and chilli
Lagne e ciceri o Lagne e fasuli - Tagliatelle with chickpeas or beans
Maccherunari - Homemade long pasta
Migliatieddri - Oven pizza made from flour and corn
Migliazza - Oven pizza made from flour and corn
Pizza cu li vruocculi - Cornmeal and broccoli pizza
Laganieddri cu ru lattu - Fettuccine or tagliolini with milk
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

In the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Saint Mary of Graces) there is an organ built in 1707 by the master Agostino which has a rich ornamentation in the entablature.
In the Middle Ages, Guardia Lombardi had the qualification of Universitas.
In 1053 Pope Leo IX stopped in this town.

HISTORICAL NOTES

The origins of Guardia Lombardi are very ancient and, for this very reason, they are very uncertain. As you can read on the Municipality website, from some finds, found in particular in a land located in the Coste district, it's proven that the Romans arrived in Guardia while travelling along the old Appian Way, heading towards Brindisi.
What is certain, historically, is that Guardia was founded by barbarian people, the Lombards. They gave the name to the town calling it “Guardiae Lombardorum”; then “Guardia Lombardi”, “Guardia dei Lombardi” and finally, “Guardia Lombardi”. The Lombards, in fact, built a castle in this area that served as a lookout. The name of the town derives from this word. The remains of this castle seem to have been incorporated into a mansion built in the 17th century, now owned by the Forgione and Santoli families.
The town was destroyed in 1133 by Ruggiero the Norman, but it was rebuilt and became a possession of the Balvano. Later it passed into the hands of several Gesualdo families and was subjected by different peoples, until it was annexed, in 1861, to the Kingdom of Italy.