Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''
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 Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct
volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of
Caserta
Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...
and east of Formia.
It is situated on the site of ancient Suessa Aurunca, near the river
Garigliano
The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy.
It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). ...
. The hill on which Sessa lies is a mass of volcanic
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
.
Toponym
The name Sessa comes from '' Colonia Julia Felix Classica Suessa'' (or in short S.P.Q.S."Suessa"), a city belonging to the ancient
Auruncan Pentapolis, which is the historic core of the downtown. It is assumed that the name can be derived from the happy location ("sessio", that is, seat, gentle hill from the mild climate of the local territory).
Physical geography
Sessa Aurunca is the largest municipality in Campania.In 1945 the province of Caserta was reconstituted with a legislative decree signed by Umberto di Savoia, suppressed in 1927 and aggregated to the Province of Naples with the exception of Nolano and the district of Acerra and Sessa Aurunca was re-established to the province of Caserta. For territorial extension Sessa are the second in Campania after
Ariano Irpino
Ariano Irpino (formerly Ariano di Puglia or simply Ariano) is an Italian city and municipality in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region. With a population of 22,535 (2017), it is the second-largest settlement of the Irpinia district an ...
.
It is located from the
Caserta
Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...
on the modern SS7, the
Via Appia
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, rec ...
state road.By road the maximum distance Sessa Aurunca center and Naples city are about as regards the municipality of Sessa south west territory and that of the municipality of ((Giugliano:Napoli)) the distance is ,
via Domiziana
:The ''via Domitiana'' is not to be confused with the similar-sounding ''via Domitia'' in France.
Via Domiziana is the modern name for the Via Domitiana in the Campania region of Italy, a major Roman road built in 95 AD under (and named fo ...
while the distance in a straight line is from Naples.
History
The ancient chief town of the
Aurunci
The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC.
Identity
Aurunci is the na ...
, Suessa is sometimes identified with a site at over above the level of the sea, on the narrow south-western edge of the extinct crater of Roccamonfina. Here some remains of
Cyclopean masonry
Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and with clay mortar or no use of mortar. The boulders typic ...
exist; but the area enclosed, about , is too small for anything but a detached fort. This site dates more probably from a time before the wars between the Aurunci and the Romans.
In 337 BC the town was abandoned under the pressure of the
Sidicini
The Sidicini (Ancient Greek Σιδικῖνοι) were one of the Italic peoples of ancient Italy. Their territory extended northward from their capital, Teanum Sidicinum (modern day Teano), along the valley of the Liri river up to Fregellae, cove ...
, in favour of the site of the modern Sessa. The new town kept the old name until 313, when a Latin colony under the name Suessa Aurunca was founded here. It was among the towns that had the right of coinage, and it manufactured carts, baskets and others.
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
speaks of it as a place of some importance. The
triumviri
A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...
settled some of their veterans here, whence it appears as Colonia Julia Felix Classica Suessa. From inscriptions it appears that
Matidia the younger, sister-in-law of
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
, had property in the district. It was not on a highroad, but on a branch between the
Via Appia
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, rec ...
at
Minturnae
Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crosse ...
and the
Via Latina
The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers.
Route
It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ear ...
crater mentioned.
Suessa saw its maximum urban expansion in the early
Roman imperial age: the town extended over an area almost twice the current and counted several large buildings.
After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, Sessa lost much of its population, and was located on the boundaries between the
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...
(later
Principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua ( la, italic=yes, Principatus Capuae or ''Capue'', it, italic=yes, Principato di Capua) was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy, usually ''de facto'' independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Ho ...
) and the
Duchy of Gaeta
The Duchy of Gaeta was an early medieval state centered on the coastal South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine power lagged in the Mediterranean and the penins ...
. Starting from the 14th century it became a fiefdom (as a semi-independent duchy) of the Marzano family, part 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 ...
. In 1466 it returned under direct control of the Neapolitan crown.
Main sights
Ancient era
*
Roman Theatre (2nd-1st century BC). Excavated since 2001, it was enlarged by
Matidia Minor
Mindia Matidia or Vibia Matidia or Matidia Minor (''Minor'' Latin for ''the younger'', 85 – after 161) was a Roman imperial woman in the early second century AD. She was related to several ancient Roman Emperors, as a great-niece to Trajan and ...
in the second century AD. It could hold more than 6,500 spectators with a scene of about 40 meters in length and 25 in height. The theater was built on the slope of a hill, facing the
Gulf of Gaeta
The Gulf of Gaeta is a body of water on the west coast of Italy and part of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is bounded by Cape Circeo in the north, Ischia and the Gulf of Naples in the south, and the Pontine Islands in the west.
The gulf is named for th ...
.
*
Cryptoporticus
In Ancient Roman architecture a cryptoporticus (from atin''crypta'' and ''porticus'') is a covered corridor or passageway. The usual English is "cryptoportico". The cryptoportico is a semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico stru ...
(1st century BC)
*
Aerarium
Aerarium, from ''aes'' (“bronze, money”) + -''ārium'' (“place for”), was the name given in Ancient Rome to the public treasury, and in a secondary sense to the public finances.
''Aerarium populi Romani''
The main ''aerarium'', that ...
–
Tabularium
The Tabularium was the official records office of ancient Rome and housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within the Roman Forum, it was on the front slope of the Capitoline Hill, below the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to the ...
* Ronaco Bridge, in brickwork, formed by twenty-one arches
220px, Ducal Castle.
Middle Ages
*
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
, a medieval basilica with a vaulted portico and a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and two aisles. Begun in 1103, internally it features a mosaic pavement in the
Cosmatesque
Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also u ...
style, a good ambo resting on columns and decorated with mosaics showing traces of Moorish influence, a
Paschal candle, and an organ gallery. The portal has sculptures with scenes from the life of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
* Catacombs of S. Casto
* Ducal Castle, built in the tenth century by the Lombard
gastald
A gastald (Latin ''gastaldus'' or ''castaldus''; Italian ''gastaldo'' or ''guastaldo'') was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne (a gastaldate, ''gastaldia'' or ''castaldia'') with civil, martial, and judicial powers.
...
of the city. It was enlarged under
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerus ...
with a new tower, and modified to also serve as residence in the 15th century by the Marzano family. It a has a quadrangular plan with double
mullioned window
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s dating from the 13th century.
* Cloister of St. Dominic
* The Cappucini's Gate
Modern and contemporary ages
* Seat of St. Matthew
* Church of St. Stephen
* Church of Sant'Agostino
*
Church of Sant'Anna
* St. John's Church at Villa
* Church of San Giovanni Square
*
Church of the Annunziata
* St. Charles Church
* Church of St. Germano
* Boarding school
"Agostino Nifo" built in the 14th century and opened in 1418.
*Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Libera, in the ''
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 ...
'' of Carano.
In some streets are memorial stones with inscriptions in honour of
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
, surmounted by an old crucifix with a mosaic cross.
Culture
Events in the town include:
* The Holy Week at Sessa Aurunca
* Great District Tournament, held between the first and second Sunday of September.
* Carnevale Aurunco
Tourism
Baia Domizia is a small resort town included in the comune of Sessa Aurunca. The village was built since 1964 and is located near the river Garigliano, inside an Italian pine forest and nice volcanic sand beaches. It is a holiday town with of private beaches. The village offers a superb combination of sea, sand and sightseeing. Baia Domizia gained the status as a main destination of summer tourism on the Litorale Domizio and is one of the best known seaside resorts in Campania Region.
Transportation
Sessa Aurunca is connected by railway to Naples and Rome.
See also
*
Aurunca The ancient city of Aurunca was the capital or metropolis of the little mountain tribe of the Aurunci (in the more limited sense of that name (see Aurunci)), was situated on one of the summits of the volcanic group of mountains, which rise above the ...
References
External links
*
* https://www.visitsessa.com/
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Campania