Valle Caudina (Caudine Valley) is a densely settled Italian valley with about 69,000 inhabitants. It is located in

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 ...

, between the

Province of Benevento The Province of Benevento ( it, Provincia di Benevento) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento. Geography The province has an area of 2,071 km2, and, , a total population of 279,308. There are 78 ...

and 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 ...

Comunes

In the Valle Caudina there are 14 Italian ''

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 ...

s'' (10 belonging to Benevento and 4 to Avellino). In the province of Avellino: *

Cervinara Cervinara is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. History According to the legend, the name "Cervinara" comes from an altar dedicated by the Romans to Ceres, goddess of the harvest. The name appears for the first ...

* Rotondi *

Roccabascerana Roccabascerena is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, 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 o ...

* *

San Martino Valle Caudina San Martino Valle Caudina is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middl ...

In the province of Benevento: * Airola *

Arpaia Arpaia is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former (now titular) episcopal see in the Province of Benevento in the southern Italian region Campania, located about 35 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km southwest of Benevento. Ar ...

Bonea Bonea is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 40 km northeast of Naples and about 15 km southwest of Benevento. Bonea borders the following municipalities: Airola, Bucci ...

Bucciano Bucciano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region of Campania, located about 40 km northeast of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Benevento on the southern slopes of the Monte Taburno. History ...

Forchia Forchia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km southwest of Benevento. The name ''Forchia'' is the translation of Latin ''forc ...

Moiano Moiano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about southwest of Benevento on the western slope of the Monte Taburno Taburno Camposauro is a massif lo ...

Montesarchio Montesarchio ( nap, Muntesarchio; la, Caudium; grc, Καύδιον, Kaúdion) is a ''comune'' in the Province of Benevento, Campania, southern Italy. It is located south-west of Benevento in the Valle Caudina at the foot of Monte Taburno. The ...

* Pannarano* (

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in the province of Avellino) * Paolisi *

Sant'Agata de' Goti Sant'Agata de' Goti is a ''comune'' (municipality) and former Catholic bishopric in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km west of Benevento near the Monte Taburn ...

* The comunes with "*" are located in the outskirts of the Valle Caudina (without them the population of the valley is of 52,000 circa).

Geography

Valle Caudina is in the center of Campania being surrounded from the south by Partenio and from the north by

Taburnus Taburno Camposauro is a massif located in the Apennines, to the west of Benevento, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. Its highest peak is the Taburno, at 1,393 m. It is composed of two groups of calcareous mountains separated by a p ...

massif. It is about 20 km from

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

, 23 km 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. ...

, 22 km from

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 ...

, 38 km from

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

e 57 km from

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. The main west entrance is the Stretta di Arpaia, where the

Battle of the Caudine Forks The Battle of Caudine Forks, 321 BC, was a decisive event of the Second Samnite War. Its designation as a battle is a mere historical formality: there was no fighting and there were no casualties. The Romans were trapped in an enclosed valley b ...

may have happened, between the mountains Tairano and Castello; another is the Moiano's gorge. Instead, the east entrance is the ''passo of Sferracavallo'' in the comune of Montesarchio. The Valle Caudina is mostly flat and it is crossed by the

Isclero The Isclero is a stream in Campania, southern Italy. Its sources is formed by confluence of the Varco, Cola and Querci torrents; it then flows in the Valle Caudina, where it receives the waters of the Tesa and Faenza, and then continues running in ...

river.

History

Originally, in the valley there was a lake fed by the waters coming from the Taburnus and the Partenio. Ceramic remnants at

suggest early settlements dating back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(1800-1000 BC). Around the 8th century BC, the city of Caudium was born. It was the capital of the Caudini tribe, remembered above all for the humiliating defeat of the Caudine Forks that the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...

inflicted on the Romans in 321 BC during the

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

Bibliography

*''Guida d'Italia - Campania'',

Touring Club Italiano The Touring Club Italiano (TCI) (Italian Touring Club or Touring Club of Italy) is the major Italian national tourist organization. The Touring Club Ciclistico Italiano (TCCI) was founded on 8 November 1894 by a group of bicyclists to promote the ...

, Milano 2005

Sources

Valle Caudina website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Campania Campania Samnium