Rionero in Vulture ( aae, Arrionero) is a town and '' comune'' 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 ...
. It is located on the slopes of Monte Vulture in the northern part of the region. The village was founded and historically inhabited by the
Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including:
* Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name
* Arbëresh ...
minority, who no longer retain the language and the cultural Arbëreshe heritage.
History
The first historical mention of the hamlet of ''Saint Maria di Rivonigro'' goes back to 1152, when it is mentioned as a feudal possession of the
bishop of Rapolla The Catholic diocese of Rapolla, in Basilicata, existed from the eleventh century until 1528. In that year it was united with the diocese of Melfi, to form the diocese of Melfi e Rapolla.Atella which had received tax concessions. The hamlet remained unpopulated during most of the 14th and 15th centuries until the influx of refugees from Albania (i.e. from Scutari and Corona) and several groups taking advantage of tax exemptions promulgated in those years. Its history overlaps with those of the neighbors Barile, Melfi, Ginestra ("Lombarda Massa") and Maschito.
On April 1, 1502 Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba met at the Church of St. Antonio Abate in Rionero to negotiate whether France or Spain would control the provinces of Principato Citra, Principato Ultra, Capitanata, and
.
In 1627 the inhabitants of Rionero were forced to change their religious observances from the Greek rite to the Latin rite by Diodato Scaglia, the Bishop of Melfi.
Seriously struck by the earthquake of 1694, Rionero's population in that period did not exceed 700. Later on the
Caracciolo Caracciolo () is an Italian surname most associated with the noble House of Carácciolo from the Kingdom of Naples.
Other people with the name include:
* Alberto Caracciolo, Argentinian musician
* Andrea Caracciolo, Italian footballer
* Battiste ...
, princes of Torella, to whom belonged the feudal rights, granted permission for the deforestation, the tillage, and the cultivation of lands occupied from the forests of the locality "Gaudo" and as a result of the consequent economic development the population endured a strong growth: in the year 1735 the inhabitants had grown to approximately 3,000, in 1752 to approximately 9,000 and by 1811 they had exceeded 11,000. In this year, on May 4, the ancient hamlet obtained the administrative autonomy as a comune from King Joachim Murat. By the mid 19th century the population grew until reaching approximately 20,000 inhabitants. The successive and periodic waves of emigration diminished the population down to roughly 14,000 inhabitants.
After the
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 ...
, Rionero gave the birth to
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.
...
, the most well-known brigand of that period.
On 23 September 1943, German paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Division retreated from Atella after being shelled by Canadian artillery. They withdrew northward and for two more days they occupied Rionero. On September 24, sixteen Rioneresi were massacred in the Largo San Antonio by the paratroopers . Two days later on September 26, patrols from the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...
attached to the
1st Canadian Infantry Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...
entered Rionero and the neighboring town of Barile unopposed.
People
*
Giustino Fortunato senior Giustino may refer to:
Name
*The Italian variation of Justin (name)
People
*Giovanni Giustino Ciampini (1633 – 1698), an ecclesiastical archaeologist
*Giustino de Jacobis (1800 – 1860), an Italian Roman Catholic bishop
*Giustino Durano (1923 ...
- magistrate and politician
* Giustino Fortunato - historian and politician
*
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.
...
Beniamino Placido
Beniamino Placido (1 February 1929 – 6 January 2010) was an Italian journalist, writer, and television critic.
He was a columnist on Italian culture for the newspaper ''La Repubblica'' and wrote three best selling books on television in the 199 ...
- journalist, writer and television critic
*
Leopold Saverio Vaccaro
Leopold Saverio Vaccaro was a noted surgeon and scientist who was decorated for assisting with the reconstruction of Italy in the aftermath of World War I.
Biographical Information
Born February 2, 1887, in Rionero in Vulture, Italy, to Giovanni ...
- surgeon, scientist, assisted with the reconstruction of Italy after World War I
See also
*
Monticchio
Monticchio is an Italian hamlet (''frazione'') belonging to the municipalities of Rionero in Vulture and Atella, in the Province of Potenza, Basilicata. The village is divided into three zones: Monticchio Laghi (part of Atella), Monticchio Bagn ...
*
Vulture (region)
The Vulture ( it, Il Vulture, italic=no, ), also known as the Vulture-Melfese or Vulture-Alto Bradano is a geographical and historical region in the northern part of the province of Potenza, in the Basilicata region of Italy.
Geography
The are ...