Battipaglia () is a municipality (''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'') in the

province of Salerno The Province of Salerno ( it, Provincia di Salerno) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. __TOC__ Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Battipagli ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

, south-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Famed as a production place of buffalo mozzarella, Battipaglia is the economic hub of the Sele plain.

History

Formerly part of the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

colonies of the Magna Graecia, the municipal area used to host strategic Roman settlements during the late Republican- early Imperial times, like most of the southern Tyrrhenian coast. Archaeological excavations have brought to light several finds dating back to as early as the

3rd century BC In the Mediterranean Basin, the first few decades of this century were characterized by a balance of power between the Greek Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, and the great mercantile power of Carthage in the west. This balance was shattered ...

pertaining to at least two villas. One of those was located in the vicinity of the coastline and was part of a larger thermal complex. The other was positioned internally and likely served as a productive belt between cereal crops in the plain and olive crops and

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s on the hill. The town was first given its modern name in

1080 Year 1080 ( MLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and aristocrat, seize ...

within a bureaucratic document of the

Duchy of Apulia and Calabria The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy w ...

addressed to the local Catholic diocese. It is generally believed that the name ''Battipaglia'' is formed by the union of ''batti'' (to thresh) and ''paglia'' (to straw), owing to the activity of peasants in the past. However, some scholars have hypothesized that the name could have originated from ''Baptipalla'', indicating a place devoted to

Voltumna In Etruscan mythology, Voltumna or Veltha was the chthonic (relating to or inhabiting the underworld) deity, who became the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the ''deus Etruriae princeps'', according to Varro. Voltumna's cult was centered in ...

, a chthonic

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

deity. Battipaglia as a definite township was formally created by

Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II ( it, Ferdinando Carlo; scn, Ferdinannu Carlu; nap, Ferdinando Carlo; 12 January 1810 – 22 May 1859) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death in 1859. Family Ferdinand was born in Palermo to King Francis I of the T ...

in 1858, as the Bourbon authorities designated the place as the site of an agricultural colony where families who had survived the

1857 Basilicata earthquake The 1857 Basilicata earthquake (also known as the Great Neapolitan earthquake) occurred on December 16 in the Basilicata region of Italy southeast of the city of Naples. The epicentre was in Montemurro, on the western border of the modern provi ...

could be rehoused. It was eventually granted the status of independent municipality by a Royal Decree on March 28, 1929 (during the Mussolini Cabinet), comprising parts of the territories which had been previously included in the nearby towns of Eboli and Montecorvino Rovella. In 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the town suffered heavy bombing by Allied air force, resulting in 117 civilian casualties. Although most of the town had been razed to the ground, in the aftermath of the conflict Battipaglia was to be rebuilt remarkably quickly, even attracting migrants from the hinterland seeking work. The town thus experienced an outstanding increase in population between 1951 and 1960, turning into a dynamic industrial area. In 1953, Battipaglia went under the media spotlight as its

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

mayor, Lorenzo Rago, was kidnapped never to be found again. Rivolta di Battipaglia - blocco ferrovia

In 1969, due to the scheduled shutdown of two large sugar and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

processing factories — both employing a significant number of locals — thousands of ''Battipagliesi'' carried out widespread riots, which would be calmed down few days later following the Italian government's commitment to keep both operational. The few but intense days of social unrest — which took place in the context of a wider protest movement by students and

workers The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

in Italy and several other Western countries — eventually resulted in two fatalities. Since the late 20th and early 21st century, the agricultural sector has been joined by the industrial one, several companies having established factories in the city.

Geography

The municipality borders with Bellizzi, Eboli, Montecorvino Rovella, Olevano sul Tusciano and

Pontecagnano Faiano Pontecagnano Faiano (also known simply as Pontecagnano) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. The area dates back to Roman times when the city of Picentia stood in the place and was destro ...

. Its hamlets (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'') are Aversana, Belvedere, Fasanara, Lago, Padova, San Emilio, Santa Lucia Inferiore, Spineta, Tavernola, Verdesca, and Vivai.

Demographics

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:490 height:400 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:55000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from:0 till:2869 bar:1871 from:0 till:2920 bar:1881 from:0 till:3545 bar:1901 from:0 till:3877 bar:1911 from:0 till:3976 bar:1921 from:0 till:4164 bar:1931 from:0 till:7997 bar:1936 from:0 till:9436 bar:1951 from:0 till:16896 bar:1961 from:0 till:25992 bar:1971 from:0 till:33277 bar:1981 from:0 till:40797 bar:1991 from:0 till:47139 bar:2001 from:0 till:50359 bar:2011 from:0 till:50464 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 2869 fontsize:S text:2,869 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at: 2920 fontsize:S text:2,920 shift:(-10,5) bar:1881 at: 3545 fontsize:S text:3,545 shift:(-10,5) bar:1901 at: 3877 fontsize:S text:3,877 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 3976 fontsize:S text:3,976 shift:(-10,5) bar:1921 at: 4164 fontsize:S text:4,164 shift:(-10,5) bar:1931 at: 7997 fontsize:S text:7,997 shift:(-10,5) bar:1936 at: 9436 fontsize:S text:9,436 shift:(-10,5) bar:1951 at: 16896 fontsize:S text:16,896 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 25992 fontsize:S text:25,992 shift:(-10,5) bar:1971 at: 33277 fontsize:S text:33,277 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 40797 fontsize:S text:40,797 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 47139 fontsize:S text:47,139 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 50359 fontsize:S text:50,359 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 50464 fontsize:S text:50,464 shift:(-10,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Source ISTAT

Population

The first migration wave, beginning in the nineteenth century, led many people to move to Battipaglia from

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On ...

and neighboring municipalities. During the 1960s, the local population soared due to the influx of immigrants from bordering areas (including the towns of the

Monti Picentini 300px, Rocky limestone landscape in the monti Picentini. The Monti Picentini is a mountain range and national park in southern Italy, part of the Apennines, traditionally part in the Campanian Apennines. They are included between the Monti Latta ...

Campagna Campagna (Italian: ) is a small town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. Its population is 17,148. Its old Latin name was Civitas Campaniae (City of Campagna). Campagna is located in one of the ...

, the valley of the Sele and Cilento), mainly because of the job opportunities in the town's industry. Over the last three decades, the aforementioned have been joined by other groups, mainly eastern European, northern African and southern Asian expats.

Economy

Most of the town's wealth is due to the industrial, craft, and agricultural sectors. Pomodoro varietà Fiaschello Battipagliese

A large number of local dairy companies produce the well-known local buffalo mozzarella (''Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP''), a famous form of which is called ''zizzona di Battipaglia'' (Battipaglia '' boob'') because of its similarity to a female breast. In addition to that, Battipaglia is a production area of ''Carciofo di Paestum'' (

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

artichoke The globe artichoke ('' Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green artich ...

) IGP, annurca IGP, and tomato ''Fiaschello''. Among the most significant companies which established factories in Battipaglia are: Bonduelle (food), Prysmian (telecommunications cables), Sivam (animal husbandry), Cooper Standard Automotive (car parts), Nexans (electric cables), and Deriblok (packaging).

Culture

Every first Sunday of July the town's center is decked to the nines for three days on the occasion of the celebrating of Our Lady of Hope (''Festa della Speranza''). The big town market, whose atmosphere recalls an amusement park where traders can display their wares, lasts from Saturday to Monday, usually ending with a music exhibition in the central Piazza Amendola.

Education

Battipaglia houses a number of secondary schools, both public and private: * Liceo scientifico, classico and linguistico "Enrico Medi" * Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Besta-Gloriosi" (

istituto tecnico Secondary education in Italy lasts eight years and is divided in two stages: '' scuola secondaria di primo grado'' (lower secondary school), also known as ''scuola media'', corresponding to the ISCED 2011 Level 2, middle school and '' scuola se ...

) * Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

" ( istituto professionale) * Istituto professionale per l'agricoltura Salerno * Liceo scientifico e tecnico "

Giacomo Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (, ; 29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. He is considered the greatest Italian poet of the nineteenth century and one of ...

" (private school) * Istituto "Merini" (private school) * Istituto "

Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

" (private school)

Media

Press

* Nero su Bianco (bi-weekly) * Battipaglia 1929 (online news outlet) * Battipaglia News (online news outlet)

TV & radio

* RCS75 - Radio Castelluccio (radio) * SeiTV (TV channel) * Sud TV (TV channel)

Literature

*L. Rocco Carbone, ''Battipaglia, 70 anni nella sua storia'', Massa Editore (1999).

References

External links

Battipaglia official website

Battipaglia Online website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Campania Populated places established in 1929