Solofra ( Solofrano: , ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Avellino The province of Avellino () is a province in the Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea ...

, in the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern 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 Islan ...

region of

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

Geography

The town is bordered by Aiello del Sabato, Calvanico ( SA), Contrada, Montoro Superiore and

Serino Serino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. Famous for its very clean water source, Serino is from Naples, from Salerno, from Avellino and from Rome. Serino is known for its production of chestnuts a ...

. Its ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'' are the villages of Sant'Agata Irpina and Sant'Andrea Apostolo.

Main sights

The Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo was built in the 16th-17th centuries., and has rich interior decoration with canvases by the Guarino family, and an altarpiece of Giovanni Battista Lama.

Economy

Solofra is known as one of Italy's main centre for the tanning of

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

. Another activity present is

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

cultivation, although for about a decade this has suffered a sharp drop in production due to the

Gall wasp Gall wasps, also traditionally called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this gene ...

that now afflicts most of the chestnut groves in Italy.

Solofra Tanning District

The tanning district of Solofra extends over a territory of about 60 km², in the southwestern area of the

. In addition to Solofra in includes the municipalities of Montoro and

, for a total of 35,000 inhabitants. This area is specialized, from a production point of view, in the tanning of sheep and goat hides, for a total of about 400 companies operating in the sector including tanneries, subcontractors and packaging manufacturers, 4,000 - 4,500 employees and an average annual turnover of 1,500 million euros. In the early 1980s, to find out about the methods of processing leathers,

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

came to the city, who had long imported leather from Irpinia for his businesses in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The leathers on the iconic red vest worn by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

in the 1982 music video for '' Thriller'' were manufactured in a Solofra tannery.

References

External links

Official website

Local Police of Solofra

Historical site about Solofra
Cities and towns in Campania {{Campania-geo-stub