Afragola (; nap, Afrahola , ) is a city and ''
comune'' in the
Metropolitan City of Naples, in
Italy. It is one of the 100 largest Italian cities (the ones that have a population of more than 63,000 inhabitants).
The communal territory, measuring , borders the municipalities of
Acerra,
Casalnuovo di Napoli,
Caivano,
Cardito and
Casoria, forming a single metropolitan area of around 100,000 inhabitants. The ''comune'' of Afragola is one of the most densely populated of the country.
History
The area of modern Afragola was already settled in ancient times by 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 ...
. Older remains, belonging to an early
Bronze Age settlement buried by a
Vesuvius eruption in the 19th century BC, were found in 2005.
According to a tradition now recognized as false, the town was founded in the Middle Ages, in 1140, by
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily
Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...
, who assigned the land to its veterans. It is more likely that the city stemmed from the merger of several villages and churches already existing here. The territory was originally held by the
archbishops of Naples, but from 1576 it was directly subjected, as an autonomous community, to the
Kings of Naples.
Main sights
*Baroque sanctuary-basilica of
St. Anthony Saint Anthony, Antony, or Antonius most often refers to Anthony of Padua, also known as Saint Anthony of Lisbon, the patron saint of lost things. This name may also refer to:
People
* Anthony of Antioch (266–302), Martyr under Diocletian. Feast ...
's
sanctuary-
basilica. It was begun in 1633 and has a nave with two aisles, internally decorated with marbles. The bell tower was constructed from 1590.
*The castle, documented from 1495, was likely built from around 1420. According to the tradition, it was a residence of queen