Venticano

The Municipality of Venticano is located in the area of the mid Calore Valley, close to the province of Benevento. It's a town with 2,504 inhabitants, located 375 metres above sea level, at 29 km from Avellino. The territory extends for 14.16 sq km and the adjoining municipalities are: Apice, Calvi, Mirabella Eclano, Pietradefusi and Torre Le Nocelle. It's crossed by the Calore river and by the Mele stream.
The etymology of the name comes, according to Scipione Bellabona, from Castrum Venticani, and it can be interpreted in two ways: twenty Roman victories in battles, or a village governed by twenty wise men. The inhabitants are called Venticanesi, Saint Alexius and Saint Mary are their patron saints.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Ponterotto (Broken Bridge) - Also called "Ponte Appiano", it was built by the Romans to reach Puglia and then embark towards the East: it represents a beauty of exceptional historical value, in an area that was the scene of many battles
Ambrosini Palace - Historic building which, today, houses the Rachelina Ambrosini Foundation and which preserves a very high portal, a stone cloister with a well in the centre and a large, particularly well-kept garden
Church of Santa Maria and Sant'Alessio - Rebuilt after the 1980 earthquake, it is what remains of the Benedictine monastery built by William IV, of which the beautiful bell tower and part of the marble altar are preserved
Other - "A. Colarusso" Municipal Library, Amphitheatre, War Memorial, Historic Centre, Colarusso Palace, Petitto Palace, Petrillo Palace

EVENTS

Venticano Trade Fair - Cultural and commercial event which, since 1978, has been one of the most important in the Campania Region and in Southern Italy
Review of Classical Theatre, Music and Cabaret - Summer appointment with excellent theatrical and musical performances, which are staged in the Venticano amphitheatre
Festival of Wine, Ham and Lamb - Summer food and wine event with typical local products, good wine and music
Corto e a Capo - An initiative that also involves Montemiletto and Trevico, in the name of cinema among squares, terraces and theatrical caves

TYPICAL FOOD AND PRODUCTS

Venticano ham PAT - Cured ham aged for at least 18 months: typical of the Venticanese area, with a sweet, delicate and intense flavour, a reference point for the food and wine of the Calore Valley
Taurasi DOCG  - Wine of great tradition, made thanks to a very ancient grape variety: well structured, elegant and austere but, at the same time, balanced and tannic; suitable for a very long ageing, also thanks to its structure, minerality, good alcohol content and fullness
Irpinia Colline dell'Ufita PDO  - Extra virgin olive oil deriving largely from the Ravece variety, characterized by a pleasant bitter and spicy taste
Artisanal Nougat - The "copeta", as the nougat is usually defined in the Irpinian dialect, reminds us of the ancient origin of the product: today it's possible to taste the chocolate, white hazelnut, almond, pistachio, coffee, up to the soft white, gianduia and pantorrone
Menesta e pizza ionna - Yellow flour pizza which can also be combined with pine nuts, raisins and chopped pork fat

FUN FACTS

The Aragonese King Ferninando I, seven days before the Ides of November (7 November), instituted the Fair of Venticano which, in 1978, the Pro Loco Venticanese has restored to its ancient splendour.

HISTORICAL NOTES

Venticano was mentioned for the first time in a document dated 881 AD and it was a possession of the Abbey of Santa Sofia in Benevento: certainly populated since ancient times, it was probably the seat of the original settlement of Venticano.
Mentioned again in 1350 in a bull of Pope Clement VI with the name of Castrum Venticani, it was later involved in the struggles between the Angevins and the Aragonese for the possession of Southern Italy. In 1527, it was destroyed by the French troops of Lautrec, who came to Italy following the French King Francis I, and was swept away by the plague epidemic in the following century.
The fiefdom was subsequently ruled by Cardinal Cesare Baronio and, following his death in 1606, by the Vatican Apostolic Library, which maintained the hamlet until 1800. It has been an independent municipality since 1948, the year in which it separated from the nearby Pietradefusi.