Santa Maria Capua Vetere ( nap, Santa Maria 'e Capua) 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 The Province of Caserta ( it, Provincia di Caserta) is a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and had a total population of ...

, part of the region of

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 ...

(southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and its proximity to the Roman amphitheatre led the inhabitants to change its name in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, where ''Capua Vetere'' means ''Old Capua''.

History

In the area several settlements of the

Villanovan culture The Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BC), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfield ...

were present in pre-historical times, and these were probably enlarged by the

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian. Oscan was spoken by a number of tribes, including th ...

s and

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

. In the 4th century BCE ''Capuae'' was the largest city in

after

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The city was damaged by

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

ravages but later recovered and became the seat of an independent Lombard principate. However, during the struggle of the succession to 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 ...

, it was destroyed by a band of

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s in 841 CE. The survivors mostly fled and founded the modern

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

in the site of the ancient River port of ''Casilinum''. What is now Santa Maria Capua Vetere started to grow slowly when several countryside residences appeared around the old Christian basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore, San Pietro in Corpo and Sant'Erasmo in Capitolio. King

Robert of Anjou Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Ita ...

made Santa Maria Maggiore one of his summer residences. The town was known as Santa Maria Maggiore until 1861.

Main sights

For information about main ancient landmarks in the comune of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, see Main sights in Capua. The main other landmark of Santa Maria Capua Vetere is the

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

of ''Santa Maria Maggiore'', founded, according to the tradition, by

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Mediterranean islan ...

in the 5th century. The church had originally a single nave, but was enlarged by Lombard Prince

Arechis II of Benevento Arechis II (also ''Aretchis'', ''Arichis'', ''Arechi'' or ''Aregis'') (born According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', Arechis ''vixit autem quinquaginta tres (53) annos; obiit septimo Kal. Septembris, anno ab incarnacione Domini 787, indictione ...

in 787. Another renovation was carried out in 1666 by Cardinal

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. ...

, with the addition of two further aisles; the current Late Baroque appearance dates to the 1742–88 works, during which the precious mosaic area of the apse was destroyed.

People

Marcello Trotta Marcello Trotta (born 29 September 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Avellino. Club career Early career Born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy, Trotta began his career in the youth team at Serie A cl ...

, footballer, was born here. Capua Antica Amphitheatre

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Mithraeum Tauroctony

Pina Picierno Giuseppina "Pina" Picierno (born 10 May 1981 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere) is an Italian politician of the Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2014. Political career Career in national politics Picie ...

is a member and Vice President of the European Parliament. * Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarchist, social and political activist, writer and revolutionary. *

Frank Matano Francesco Matano, born on 14 September 1989, is a prominent Italian comedian, television personality, YouTuber, and actor.He rose to prominence in 2008 through his YouTube channel, where he gained widespread recognition for his entertaining pho ...

, Italian actor, presenter and voice actor.

Twin towns

Murcia, Spain Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

References

External links