ENGLISH * CAPUA
THE
TOWN OF CAPUA HUDDLES IN A BEND OF THE RIVER VOLTURNO, OVER WHICH WE CAN SEE
AN ALMOST PERFECTLY PRESERVERED ROMAN BRIDGE. IT WAS FOUNDED IN ABOUT A.D.
850 ON THE SITE OF ROMAN CASILINUM BY THE CITIZENS OF OLD CAPUA WHO HAD FLED
IN THE WAKE OF THE SARACEN DESTRUCTION OF THEIR TOWN. THUS, THE NEW TOWN,
OVER THE CENTURIES, CONTINUED THE INTERRUPTED HISTORY OF THE OLD ONE. IN THE
NINTH CENTURY THE WHOLE OF CAMPANIA, EXCEPT FOR NAPLES, WAS RULED BY THE LOMBARDS,
AND CAPUA WAS FIRST A LOMBARD COUNTSHIP AND LATER A PRINCIPALITY. ITS FORTUNES
FOLLOWED THOSE OF BENEVENTO, CASERTA TEANO, SESSA, VENAFRO AND CARINOLA WERE
ITS DEPENDENCIES. THE CITY WAS AMBITIOUS, HOWEVER, AND IT THEREFORE PURSUED
A POLICY OF FAVOURING THE BYZANTINES RATHER THAN THE GERMAN EMPEROR, TO WHOM
ITS PRINCES WERE IN VASSALAGE. FOR A SHORT PERIOD, CAPUA'S PROMINENCE WAS
THE MAINSTAY OF THE BYZANTINES IN SOUTHERN ITALY, TO THE DEGREE THAT IT WAS
ABLE TO SEIZE HOLD OF THE DUCHY OF NAPLES AND TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE ABBEY
OF MONTECASSINO AND THE FLOURISHING PORT OF GAETA. THIS PERIOD SAW CAPUA AT
THE HEIGHT OF ITS POWER FOR THE EXTENT OF ITS TERRITORIES, THE NUMBER OF ITS
FORTRESSES, THE IMPORTANCE OF ITS HARBOURS AND ITS UNCONTESTED SUPERIORITY
TO THE OTHER STATES OF SOUTHERN ITALY. HOWEVER, THE GERMAN EMPEROR WENT TO
WAR AGAINST CAPUA AND SUCCEEDED IN CAPTURING IT. VARIOUS VICISSITUDES FOLLOWED,
UNTIL THE NORMANS SUBDUED THE TOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL, AS PART OF REGER II'S
AMBITIOUS AND GLORIOUS PLAN TO UNITE THE WHOLE OF SOUTHERN ITALY UNDER ONE
MONARCHY.
WHAT SURVIVES FROM THE LOMBARD PERIOD, MINGLED, AS IT IS, WITH BYZANTINE AND
FAINT CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, IS A FASCINATING CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF
THE ART OF THE BARBARIAN INVADERS. THE CHURCHES OF S. SALAVTORE, S. MICHELE
A CORTE AND S. GIOVANNI, ALL OF WHICH WE CAN SEE QUITE CLEARLY FROM THE AIR,
PRESERVE COMPLETE ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES DATING FROM THE TENTH CENTURY.
IN ADDITION, THE CHURCHES OF S. MARIA IN ABATE AND S. MARIA DEL CARMELO CONTAIN
MANY FRAGMENTS FROM THE SAME PERIOD.
THEN THERE ARE ALSO THE CAPITALS OF THE COLUMNS IN THE COURTYARD OF THE PALAZZO
FIERAMOSCA.
AT ONE END OF THE ROMAN BRIDGE SPANNING THE VOLTURNO, WE CAN SEE THE REMNANTS
OF THE TURRETED GATEWAY WHICH WAS BUILT UNDER FREDERICK II OF SWABIA TO DEFEND
THIS POINT OF ENTRY INTO THE KINGDOM. THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF THE FOURTEENTH
CENTURY IS REPRESENTED BY THE PALAZZO FIERAMOSCA, WITH ITS SICILIAN-MOHMMEDAN
DECORATIVE ELEMENTS, AND SUCH CHURCHES AS S. CATERINA AND S. EGIDIO. THE FIFTEENTH
CENTURY, ON THE OTHER HAND, SAW AN ABUNDANCE OF "DURAZZESCO" AND ARAGONESE
DOORWAYS, OF EVIDENT CATALAN DERIVATION. THE SLENDER AND ELEGANT DOME WHICH
WE CAN SEE BELOW BELONGS TO THE CHURCH OF THE ANNUNZIATA, ERECTED IN THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY BY DOMENICO FONTANA. THIS IS FOREMOST EXAMPLE OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY
ARCHITECTURE IN THE TOWN; OTHER BUILDINGS FROM THIS PERIOD INCLUDE THE TOWN
HALL AND S. ELIGIO. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WAS A TIME OF GREAT PROSPERITY
FOR CAPUA, AS THE MAGNIFICIENT BUILDINGS BENEATH US WOULD SEEM TO SUGGEST.
CAPUA'S GREATEST ATTRACTION, HOWEVER, IS THE MUSEO CAMPANO, WHICH IS HOUSED
IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY PALAZZO ANTIGNANI. AMEDEO MAIURI WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE LAY.OUT OF THE COLLECTION. THERE ARE FORTY ROOMS DIVIDED INTO THREE
SECTIONS:
ARCHAEOLOGICAL,
MEDIAEVAL,
MODERN.
THERE ARE NUMEROUS TERRACOTTA
AND CLAY FIGURINES ( CAPUA ED THE FIELD IN THEIR PRODUCTION ), VOTIVE STATUES
OF WOMEN ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH ( THE FAMOUS "MATRES MATUTAE" ), VASES OF TERRACOTTA
AND BRONZE, FUNERARY SLABS, SARCOPHAGI, PRE-ROMANESQUE FRAGMENTS, SCULPTURES
FROM THE PALACES WHICH BELONGED TO FREDERICK II, STATUES AND BUSTS OF MEDIAEVAL
FIGURES, THE LIBRARY AND THE PICTURE GALLERY. WE TURN TO HEAD BACK TOWARDS
THE CASERTANO, AND AT A DISTANCE OF SIX KILOMETRES FROM THE AMPHITHEATRE AT
S. MARIA CAPUA VETERE, WE FLY OVER THE CHURCH OF S. ANGELO IN FORMIS, ONE
OF THE LOVELIEST ROMANESQUE BUILDINGS IN CAMPANIA, DECORATED WITH FRESCOES
IN THE BYZANTINE STYLE DATING BACK TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. THEREIS ALSO A
MOSAIC WHICH ORIGINATES FROM THE TEMPLE OF DIANA TIFATINA.THIS CHURCH DESERVES
A SPECIAL VISIT.
