Montecorvino Rovella (

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...

: ) 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 Salerno The Province of Salerno ( it, Provincia di Salerno) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. __TOC__ Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Battipagli ...

in the

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 ...

region of south-west

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 ...

History

In 269 BC the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

defeated the

Picentes The name Picentes or Picentini refers to the population of Picenum, on the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. Their endonym, if any, is not known for certain. There is linguistic evidence that the Picentini comprised two different ...

from the

Adriatic Coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

and founded a colony transplanting them forcedly in Campania, in the town of Picenza. After a rebellion in 89 BC, and the subsequent Roman victory, the ''Picentini'' survivors were forced to not rebuild a single town, but a series of villages, easily controllable in case of further riots. One of them was Montecorvino (''Mons Corvinus''). Until 1820 it included the village of Pugliano and, until 1990, 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

Bellizzi Bellizzi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History Bellizzi was a ''frazione'' of Montecorvino Rovella until 2 January 1990, when it became a comune following a referendum held in 1 ...

. In 1970, an early medieval church of Sant-Ambrogio, dating to the ninth century, was rediscovered. It is currently being studied by a project based in the Universities of Birmingham (UK) and Salerno (Italy)

Geography

Montecorvino is a hilltown surrounded by the Picentini mountain range, included into the

Monti Picentini Regional Park The Monti Picentini Regional Park (Italian: ''Parco regionale Monti Picentini'') is a natural preserve in Campania, southern Italy. Geography It is based on the Monti Picentini chain, a dolomitic-limestone area in the provinces of Avellino and S ...

. It borders with the municipalities of

Acerno Acerno, is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the region of Campania in south-western Italy. Geography Acerno is a large village located 40 km north-east of the provincial capital of Salerno at 727 metres above sea level in ...

Battipaglia Battipaglia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the province of Salerno, Campania, south-western Italy. Famed as a production place of buffalo mozzarella, Battipaglia is the economic hub of the Sele plain. History Formerly part of the ancien ...

Giffoni Valle Piana Giffoni Valle Piana, commonly known as Giffoni, is a town and comune in the Province of Salerno, Campania, southwestern Italy. Economy is mostly based on agriculture, with the presence of a small number of light industries and services firms. Hi ...

Montecorvino Pugliano Montecorvino Pugliano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. The communal seat is in Pugliano; no settlement in the municipality is called "Montecorvino", a toponym related to the nearby com ...

and

Olevano sul Tusciano Olevano sul Tusciano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Main sights *Roman villa of S. Maria a Corte *Castrum Olibani, a Lombard castle. During the rule of Frederick of Hohens ...

Transport

The town is served by the

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

SS 164 and by several provincial roads. Nearest motorway exit (12 km south) is "Montecorvino Pugliano" on the A2. Nearest railway station (11 km south) is "Montecorvino-Bellizzi", originally named only "Montecorvino Rovella", located in the town and former ''frazione'' of

. Montecorvino is also 15 km north of

Salerno-Pontecagnano Airport The Salerno - Costa d'Amalfi Airport , located in the municipality of Pontecagnano Faiano and close to Bellizzi, is an airport in southern Italy, in Salerno city and the west coastal areas of Amalfi to the north and Cilento to the south. It is a ...

People

John of Montecorvino John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He converte ...

(1247-1328), Franciscan missionary *

Luca Gaurico Luca Gaurico (in Latin, Lucas Gauricus) (Giffoni March 12, 1475 – March 6, 1558 in Rome) was an Italian astrologer, astronomer, astrological data collector, and mathematician. He was born to a poor family in the Kingdom of Naples, and studi ...

(1475-1558), astrologer, AKUMA É LIastronomer and mathematician *

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in ''Innerspace'', Coach Cutlip on ''The Wonder Years'', Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series ''China Beach'', the Doctor on '' Star ...

(b. 1953), American actor and singer with Italian heritage, with his father's family originating from Montecorvino and his mother's parents originally from Bomba, in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

.Robert Picardo visits his ancestors in Montecorvino

References

External links