Teora

The Municipality of Teora is located in the Upper Irpinia area. It's a town with 1,476 inhabitants, located 660 metres above sea level, at 58 km from Avellino. The territory extends for 23.21 sq km and the adjoining municipalities are: Caposele, Conza della Campania, Lioni and Morra De Sanctis. It's crossed by the Ofanto river.
The etymology of the name probably comes from the Latin tugurium, whose plural is teguria, meaning huts, referring to the shelters built by the Samnites. The inhabitants are called Teoresi and Saint Nicholas of Bari is their patron saint.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Church of San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) - Religious building erected in the 1980s, alongside the old church, which was destroyed by the 1980 earthquake
Piano fountain - Also known as the Tarantini Fountain, it is made of light-coloured stone
Stone of Civil Weddings - Located in Piazza Congrega, it's a stone table on which public deeds were drawn up and civil weddings were held
Church of San Vito (Saint Vitus) - Religious building, able to withstand the tremendous earthquake of 1980
Corona Mill - Dating back to the end of the 18th century, it is located on the edge of the historic centre of the town
Fountain of the Dead - Dating back to the 12th century, it's the source from which the chariot horses, heading to Conza to bury the corpses, used to drink

EVENTS

Tomacelle Festival - Food and wine event, accompanied by the Li Squaqqualacchiun 'parade, a typical Teora mask that opens the carnival festivities, scheduled for January
Feast of the Pesatura (Weighing) - Traditional event, scheduled for July
Saint Martin's Pizza - Food and wine and religious event, scheduled for November
Serenade Festival - Summer event dedicated to the ancient tradition of Teora serenades, scheduled for August
Good Friday - Via Crucis in the streets of the town, scheduled during the Easter holidays
Feast of the Cross - Religious celebrations, scheduled for the month of May

TYPICAL FOOD AND PRODUCTS

Tomacelle - Typical dish, similar to a meatball, consisting of pork offal, cheese, eggs and horseradish root
Saint Matin's Pizza - Potato gâteau prepared with milk, eggs, salami, cheese, parsley, mozzarella, salt and pepper
Bucatin cu lu frisc - Typical first course, made with bucatini and pork sauce, tomatoes and pickled peppers
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

In Teora, the "pesatura" is linked to the choral rite of wheat harvesting and separation, by means of the "weighing" of the ear of wheat.
Teora is a land of serenades: in the village, no one in love can get married without first having dedicated a public serenade to their beloved.
During the celebrations in honour of Saint Martin (11th of November), the citizens enjoy the "Saint Martin's Pizza", the traditional potato gâteau. Each portion of the pizza is served with a coin inside, able to give those who find it the "power" to order lunch for the diners on the 21st of November (the so-called cummit, the Banquet).

HISTORICAL NOTES

Born from a previous pre-Samnite settlement, Teora was part of the territory of Conza both in Roman times, as documented by the findings of pit tombs in the Oliveto-Cairano area, and in medieval times, following its historical events for a long time.
Mentioned in 1098 in a bull of Pope Urban II and in a subsequent notarial deed of 1332 as a fiefdom of Filippo di Tigora, a local noble, Teora was administered by the Gesualdo, Ludovisi and Mirelli families; the latter remained at the helm until 1806, the year of the abolition of feudalism.
The earthquake of the 23rd of November 1980 severely hit the town, destroying numerous testimonies of the past, including the baronial palace, the Church of San Nicola di Mira and Casa Mazzeo. No trace remains of the Lombard castle, in the locality of Boiara and already hit by the earthquake of 1732: it is known that it was renovated in the Aragonese period and that it had cylindrical towers founded on an escarpment base.