Marano di Napoli
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Marano di Napoli (; ) is a ''
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 ...
'' (municipality) in the
Metropolitan City of Naples The Metropolitan City of Naples ( it, Città metropolitana di Napoli) is an Italian metropolitan city in Campania region, established on 1 January 2015. Its capital city is Naples; within the city there are 92 comunes (municipalities). It was ...
in the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
region
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 ...
, located about northwest of
Naples 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 ...
. Partly located on the Camaldoli hill, it is one of the most populous municipalities in the metropolitan city.


Physical geography

The city covers a hilly area of 15.64 km2 at 151 meters above sea level. The area on which it stands is geologically relatively very young as it was formed about 11,000 years ago (corresponding to the third and last geological period of the Phlegraean area). Marano is located north-west of Naples whose borders are on a slope of the Camaldoli hill. Marano is about 8 km from the Asse Mediano, and about 10 km from the Tangenziale of
Naples 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 ...
. The city is just ten kilometers from the international airport of Naples-Capodichino.


History


Pre-historic and Roman era

The Maranese territory shows anthropological traces dating back to the Neolithic age which tells us how this area has been inhabited since ancient ages: in fact settlements dating back approximately 8,000 years ago (along the Marano-San Rocco route) have been found. From the Osco-Samnite period we find traces especially in the area of Masseria Spinosa, Vallesana and Monteleone; however most of them have been destroyed leaving today only three still viable roads, namely Cupa dei Cani, Pendine and Cupa Orlando. With the
Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
we have a real flowering area which has become a crossroads of economic, recreational and religious activities, as it is located along the
Via Campana The Via Campana (Italian - ''Via Antica Consolare campana'') was one of the main roads of the Roman Empire. It begins at the Flavian Amphitheatre at Pozzuoli and ran through several ancient craters, passing the town of Qualiano and ending in Anci ...
which connected
Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...
(an important commercial port in the imperial period) to
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 Etrusc ...
(connected to Rome with the
Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is ...
). Evidence from the Roman period are the Mausoleo del Ciaurro (the most important funerary architectural work in Campania) and five statues preserved in the
National Archaeological Museum of Naples The National Archaeological Museum of Naples ( it, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, italic=no, sometimes abbreviated to MANN) is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for ancient Roman remains. Its collection includes wor ...
depicting a freedman named Dama, his wife Terzia (both belonged to
Emperor Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
), Hercules and two fauns.


Development after the Romans

Following the
fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...
, and the loss of power of the
Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in the region, it become part of the
Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
and then 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 these centuries the original nucleuses of the city arose: a village called Balisano (or Vallesana), another that was the real is its hamlet of Marano (and therefore identifiable in the historical center) and the hamlet of Turris Marano (or Marano delle Torri) near Monteleone. Just in the area of Monteleone the emperor Frederick II had a castle built as a hunting lodge, which, on his death, was set on fire due to a popular uprising; was rebuilt by King Charles I of Anjou in 1275, which forced sixty families to reside in the vicinity of the same, founding the fraction called San Rocco. With the coming of the Spaniards to Naples, Marano turned into a building site, changing its face. In 1630, in addition to understanding its historic territory, the city included Quarto and the territory of the current Monterusciello. Moreover, up to this date Marano was part of the state-owned farms of Naples; however the governing bodies, due to the financial difficulties of the State, decided to alienate the farmhouse, together with others, to swell the coffers. The farmhouse was therefore sold to Antonio Manriquez, Marquis of Cirella, who was succeeded by his son Diego in 1631. Diego was succeeded by his sister Caterina (in 1637) and his death in 1690, to Eufrasia Serbellone (daughter of Caterina Manriquez). From 1704 Marano passed to the noble Caracciolo.


Modern era

In 1806, following the administrative reform under the Neapolitan reign of Giuseppe Bonaparte, the feud was abolished to make room for the nascent Maranese municipal administration. Later Marano will follow the fortunes first of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and then of Italy. From 1948 the quarter of Quarto achieved independence by forming an autonomous municipality.


Festivals

Each October, since 2000, Marano promotes a widespread festival, which involves youngsters from Campania and other parts of Italy. The festival, called "Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival", extorts people from these contexts to organize several activities, including a short film against the monopoly of Camorra on the territory. The spots are aimed at showing civil commitment and demand for legality. Moreover, the one week long celebration, whose slogan is "Give a Voice", shows a collective effort to fight corruption and degradation and it is led by the good part of the population. Plenty of au pairs are hosted by warm families in order to make more and more people aware of the beauty Naples and its surroundings can offer, not to mention the personal enrichment brought about by this experience. Furthermore, the positive effects of the festival do not fade in few days, because MRSF Spots are constantly projected on the tube electronic screens, with the purpose of reminding people that Marano is no longer a city of crime, but a promise for the future.


Main sights

Marano's main attraction is the so-called ''Mausoleo del Ciaurro'', one of the most important Roman funerary edifice in Campania, dating to the 1st-2nd century AD. Another attraction is ''Torre Caracciolo'' which was built by the Aragonese. From its walls you can admire the Gulf of Naples and the Phlegraean Fields but it is currently privately owned.


Economy

The main economic sources of the city are agriculture and commerce. Many ancient typical noble arts have been lost during the years, like the handmade construction of stairs and cests. Strangely enough some renowned and typical local agricultural products are not produced anymore. In past years the peas from Marano (Santa Croce) and the cherries (Recca's cherries) were sold all over the Italy. Nowadays only few farmers cultivate these two products. For many centuries one of the main sources of income for the citizens of Marano has been the selling of
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 ...
stones. The tufo workers, also known as ''montesi'', used to start working at a very early age. Ten workers could extract two thousands stones per day. A jingle was used to beat the time while the ''montesi'' were working. The jingle was made of fifty verses, and at the end of the jingle each worker was sure he had extracted exactly fifty stones.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marano Di Napoli Cities and towns in Campania