Battipaglia () is a municipality ('' comune'') in the province of Salerno,

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

History

Formerly part of the ancient Greek 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 A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food e ...

crops in the plain and olive crops and vineyards 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 wh ...

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 V ...

, a chthonic Etruscan 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 ...

in 1858, as the

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by B ...

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 Montecorvino Rovella (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. History In 269 BC the Romans defeated the Picentes from the Adriatic Coast and founded a colony transplanting them ...

. In 1943, during World War II, 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 mayor, Lorenzo Rago, was kidnapped never to be found again. Rivolta di Battipaglia - blocco ferrovia

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 chie ...

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 A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

and workers 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 Bellizzi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History Bellizzi was a ''frazione'' of Montecorvino Rovella until 2 January 1990, when it became a comune following a referendum held in ...

, Eboli,

Olevano sul Tusciano Olevano sul Tusciano is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Main sights *Roman villa of S. Maria a Corte *Castrum Olibani, a Lombard castle. During the rule of Frederick of Hohen ...

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 and neighboring municipalities. During the

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

, 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 Latt ...

, Campagna, the valley of the Sele and

Cilento Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy. Cilento is known as one of the centers of Mediterranean diet. Geography The co ...

), 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

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 articho ...

) IGP,

annurca ''Annurca'', pronounced in Italy , also called ''Anurka'', is a historically old cultivar of domesticated apple native to Southern Italy. It is believed to be the one mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his ''Naturalis Historia'', and in the 16th ce ...

IGP, and tomato ''Fiaschello''. Among the most significant companies which established factories in Battipaglia are:

Bonduelle Bonduelle is a French company producing processed vegetables. History * The company was founded in 1853, when Louis Bonduelle-Dalle (23 October 1802 - 13 November 1880) and Louis Lesaffre-Roussel (1802–1869) established a grain and juniper b ...

(food),

Prysmian Prysmian S.p.A. is an Italian company with headquarters in Milan, specialising in the production of electrical cable for use in the energy and telecom sectors and for optical fibres. Prysmian is present in North America with 23 plants, 48 in Eur ...

(telecommunications cables), Sivam (animal husbandry),

Cooper Standard Automotive Cooper Standard Automotive Inc., headquartered in Novi, Michigan, is a leading global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and ...

(car parts),

Nexans Nexans S.A. is a global company in the cable and optical fiber industry headquartered in Paris, France. The group is active in four main business areas: buildings and territories (construction, local infrastructure, smart cities / grids, e-mobi ...

(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) * Istituto di Istruzione Superiore " Enzo Ferrari" ( 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