Caiazzo (also Cajazzo) (
Campanian: ) is a city and ''
comune'' in the
province of Caserta (
Campania) in
Italy. It is located on the right bank of the
Volturnus, some northeast of
Capua.
History
The ancient Caiatia was already in the hands of the
Romans in 306 BC, and since in the 3rd century BC it issued
copper coins with a
Latin legend it must have had the . In the
Social War it rebelled from Rome, and its territory was added to that of Capua by
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla had ...
. In the imperial period, however, it was once more a .
In the Middle Ages it belonged to the
Lombard Duchy of Benevento and the
County of Capua. The
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
was founded in 966. Later
Frederick II established here a Treasure Court. It had a castle which was enlarged by the
Angevines and, during the reign of
Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...
, housed his mistress
Lucrezia d'Alagno. Later Caiazzo was the fief of numerous baronial families of the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
.
Caiazzo was the seat of anti-royal rebellions at the times of the
Neapolitan Republic, and also housed several
Carbonari. Despite this, Caiazzo was one of the few towns in the kingdom whose population sided against
Garibaldi's
expedition which annexed southern Italy to
Piedmont.
During
World War II, retreating German troops
massacred 22 civilians here.
Main sights
Caiazzo has remains of Cyclopean or
polygonal masonry walls, and under the Piazza del Mercato is a large Roman
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
, which for centuries continued to provide a good water supply.
The Lombard castle is still in existence.
Sister cities
Caiazzo has a sister relationship with:
*
Ochtendung
Ochtendung is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.
Geography
Ochtendung lies between the A 48 and A 61 motorways and has designated junctions from both. The village lies on the Nette and ...
,
Germany, since 1996
References
Sources
*
Cities and towns in Campania
Castles in Italy
Roman sites of Campania
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