Monticchio is an Italian hamlet (''

frazione 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 ...

'') belonging to the municipalities of

Rionero in Vulture Rionero in Vulture ( aae, Arrionero) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is located on the slopes of Monte Vulture in the northern part of the region. The village was founded and ...

and Atella, in the

Province of Potenza The Province of Potenza ( it, Provincia di Potenza; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There a ...

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

. The village is divided into three zones: Monticchio Laghi (part of Atella), Monticchio Bagni and Monticchio Sgarroni (both in Rionero).

History

First inhabited by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

, who occupied the ancient castle near Sgarroni (''Castrum Monticuli''), it became, in the second half of the 19th century, a strategic point for

brigands Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded usa ...

after

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. It was the shelter for brigands such as

Carmine Crocco Carmine Crocco, known as Donatello or sometimes Donatelli (Rionero in Vulture, 5 June 1830 – Portoferraio, 18 June 1905), was an Italian brigand. Initially a soldier for the Bourbons, he later fought in the service of Giuseppe Garibaldi. ...

and his subordinates ''

Ninco Nanco Giuseppe Nicola Summa, known as Ninco Nanco (April 12, 1833 – March 13, 1864), was an Italian brigand. One of the most important brigands after the Italian unification, he was a lieutenant of Carmine Crocco, band chief of the Vulture area, in Bas ...

'' (Giuseppe Summa),

Giuseppe Caruso Giuseppe Caruso may refer to: * Pino Caruso (1934–2019), Italian actor, author and TV-personality * Pippo Caruso (1935–2018), Italian composer, conductor and music arranger * Giuseppe Caruso (brigand) Giuseppe Caruso, nicknamed "''Zi 'Bep ...

, Teodoro Gioseffi and Giovanni Fortunato. Nowadays it is a touristic place admired for its natural environment and for mineral waters, due to the presence of some extinct volcanoes.

Geography

Monticchio is part of the Vulture region and lies near the borders with the

Province of Avellino The Province of Avellino ( it, Provincia di Avellino) is a province in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The area is characterized by numerous small towns and villages scattered across the province; only two towns have a population over 20,0 ...

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. The three tiny villages composing it are located to the west of

Mount Vulture Mount Vulture () is an extinct volcano located north of the city Potenza in the Basilicata region (Italy). As a prominent landmark it gave its name to the Vulture region, the most significant viticultural zone in Basilicata growing the DOC w ...

and few kilometres away from each other. A regional road links Monticchio Bagni and Monticchio Laghi. *Monticchio BagniInfos about Monticchio on Rionero website
(''M. Baths'', ) is the northernmost locality, situated few kilometres from the borders with Campania and from the closed

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the Avellino-Lioni-Rocchetta line. With a population of about 250, it is the most populated locality. *Monticchio Laghi (''M. Lakes'', ) lies on the slopes of Mount Vulture and counts about 150 inhabitants. In front of it there are situated two little volcanic lakes and the locality is receptive for tourism. From 1971 the smaller of the two lakes, habitat of the

European owl moth ''Brahmaea'' (''Acanthobrahmaea'') ''europaea'', the European owl moth, is a lepidopteran from the family Brahmaeidae, in the subgenus ''Acanthobrahmaea''. Taxonomy ''B. europaea'' is the sole species in the genus ''Brahmaea'' in Europe. Most me ...

, constitutes a natural reserve, named Riserva regionale Lago piccolo di Monticchio. Around the village are situated two abbeys: St. Michael and the ruins of St. Hippolytus. *Monticchio Sgarroni (), with a population of about 50, is the least populated one. Also known as Sgarroni, close to it are located the ruins of a castle. Monticchio is 13 kilometres from

Melfi Melfi (Neapolitan language, 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 17,7 ...

, 16 kilometres from

, 22 from Atella, 68 from

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

, 71 from

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

and 123 from

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

Economy

The economy of Monticchio is mainly based on tourism and agriculture. Local industry is based on the export of the mineral waters, owned by the Italian companies Gaudianello (based in Melfi) and

Fonti del Vulture Bognanco (Western Lombard dialect, Western Lombard: ''Bügnanch''), population about 250, is a comune, commune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located in an Alpine valley about northeast of Turin im ...

TERRITORIO")">Infos on Fonti del Vulture website (section "TERRITORIO")
(based in Rionero). This second company has a local factory that produces the waters ''Toka'', ''Solaria'' and ''Felicia''.

Gallery

File:Monticchio Laghi.jpg, The lakes of Monticchio File:Monticchio4.jpg, View of Monticchio Laghi File:Abbazia monticchio.JPG, The abbey of St. Michael File:Abbazia di Sant'Ippolito.jpg, Ruins of the abbey of St. Hippolytus

References

External links

Monticchio website

Monticchio on the website of Rionero

Natural Reserve of Monticchio
{{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Potenza