ENGLISH * IRPINIA
MOUNTAINS
WITH THEIR SLOPES BARE OR COVERED IN GREEN VEGETATION, ROCKY CRAGS, FORESTS
AND COPPICES; ON THE MOUNTAIN SLOPES, BELOW THE BARE, DESERTED PEAKS, THERE
ARE OLIVE AND CHESTNUT TREES. FAMILIES BOUND BY AN ANCIENT TIE TO THE LAND
LIVE IN SMALL COTTAGES PERCHED ON ROCKY PEAKS AND IN THE MOUNTAIN GORGES.
A RELIGIOUS SENSE OF LIFE AND A TENACIOUS DEDICATION TO WORK ENABLE THEM TO
ENDURE THE ADVERSITIES OF NATURE, NOT ALWAYS JOUFUL AND BENEFICIENT, BUT ON
OCCASION TERRIFYING WITH ITS LANDSLIDES AND FLOODS.
AFTER HAVING FLOWN OVER THE DIANO VALLEY, WITH THE RIVER ALENTO, THE PONDS
OF MAORNO, THE PALAMONTE MARSHES AND S. GREGORIO MAGNO, WE NOW TRAVERSE THE
VALLEY OF THE RIVER SELE. WE ARE IN IRPINIA.
FEW OTHER MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS ARE AS DISTINCTIVE AS IRPINIA WITH ITS IMPRESSIVE
RANGE OF HEIGHTS, BOUNDED ON THE SOUTH BLU A HIGH MOUNTAIN BARRIER AND SURROUNDED
BY LOWLAND AND DEEP RIVER VALLEYS. IRPINIA IS A LAND OF CONTRASTS AND HENCE
OF UNSURPASSED HARMONY. WHAT IS MOST IMPRESSIVE HOWEVER, IS THE SILENCE OF
THE DENSE FORESTS OF IMMEMORIAL BEECHES AND OAKS, WHICH COVER ENTIRE UNINHABITED
AREAS, AND MAKE THIS REGION A PERFECT MODEL FOR NATURALISTS AND ECOLOGISTS.
IRPINIA IS STEEPED IN SILENCE: IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND HOW IN THE MIDDLE
AGES IT BECAME A FAVOURITE PLACE FOR MONKS AND HERMITS, WHO FOUNDED MONASTERIES
ON ITS INACCESSIBLE HEIGHTS. HERE EVERYTHING SPEAKS THE SOLEMN, MYSTERIOUS
LANGUAGE OF FAITH: THE PROFOUND SOLITUDE, THE FEARFUL PRECIPICES, THE CLEAN
PURE AIR, THE VAST GRANDEUR OF THE PANORAMA EVERYTHING INDUCES TO MEDITATION
AND TO PRAYER.
THE MAGNIFICIENT MASSIF OF CERVIALTO, WHICH REACHES A HEIGHT OF NEARLY 2000
METRES AND RIVALS THE DOLOMITES, AND AT THE FOOT OF WHICH THE SOURCE OF THE
RIVER SELE IS LOCATED, BOUNDS THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN VALLEY OF THE LACENO PLAIN,
NEAR WHICH THERE IS THE SMALL SANCTUARY DEDICATED TO THE SAVIOUR, PERHAPS
BUILT ON THE RUINS OF A TEMPLE OF VESTA. THE CHARMING VILLAGES SITUATED IN
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ARE: BAGNOLI IRPINO, AN ANCIENT FEOFF WHICH IN THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY ATTRACTED ARTISTS AND MEN OF LETTERS; MONTELLA, THE ORIGINS OF WHICH
LIE FAR BACK IN TIME AND FROM WHERE EXCURSIONS LEAVE FOR THE PEAKS BETWEEN
THE TERMINIO AND THE ACCELLI; NUSCO, AND FURTHER EAST, S. ANGELO DEI LONBARDI,
WITH THE CELEBRATED ABBEY OF GOLETO NEARBY. SINCE THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1980,
THESE TOWNS NO LONGER PRESENT THE APPEARANCE OF A TRADITIONAL NATIVITY CRECHE;
NOW THEIR HOSES ARE MODERN AND CERTAINLY MORE COMFORTABLE. EASTERN IRPINIA
IS LARGELY LOCATED IN THE VALLEY OF THE RIVER OFANTO. IN THE AREA OF THE RIVERBASIN,
THE ABBEY OF GOLETO, S. ANGELO DEI LONBARDI AND NEARBY MORRA, WHERE FRANCESCO
DE SANCTIS WAS BORN, ARE SITUATED. CONZA TOO, ANCIENT COMPSA, AND LACEDONIA
LIE ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER. IN THE LATTER'S GOTHIC CATHEDRAL, IN 1486,
THE OATH WAS SWORN OF THE FAMOUS BARONS' CONSPIRACY, WHICH OPPOSED THE POWER
OF FERDINAND I OF ARAGON.
IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE IRPINIAN TABLELAND, WE CAN SEE THE ENORMOUS KARST
BASIN OF THE "PIANO DEL DRAGO", AT THE WESTERN END OF WHICH VOLTURARA IRPINIA
IS SITUATED, PRESUMABLY ON THE RUINS OF ANCIENT SABATIA. THE ACTUAL REMAINS
OF THIS TOWN CAN BE SEEN IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SERINO AT THE FOOT OF THE
1800 METRE HIGH MONTE TERMINIO, WHOSE WATERS FEED A LARGE PART OF CAMPANIA
(NAPLES IN PARTICULAR) AND PUGLIA. TO THE WEST, THERE IS THE PICTURESQUE TOWN
OF SOLOFRA, WHERE THE IMPRESSIVE DUCAL PALACE STANDS OUT.
NOW WE ENTER NORTHERN IRPINIA. HERE THE HAMLETS AND VILLAGES ARE THE HIGHEST
INHABITED CENTRES IN THE WHOLE OF CAMPANIA. TREVICO HEADS THE LIST AT 1100
METRES ABOVE SEA LEVEL, AND WE CAN FIND IT MENTIONED IN VIRGIL'S ACCOUNT OF
HIS JOURNEY TO BRINDISI.
SET ON A HIGHLYING PLAIN WITH VAST HORIZONS, THERE IS ARIANO IRPINO, WITH
ITS MAGNIFICIENT MEDIEVAL CASTLE, PARTLY IN RUINS ON ACCOUNT OF THE EARTHQUAKES
WHICH HAVE REPEATEDLY AFFLICTED IRPINIA. SLIGHTLY TO THE WEST LIES MIRABELLA,
ANCIENT AECLANO, AN IMPORTANT ROAD JUNCTION UNDER THE ROMANS; AND "TAURASI"
AND "GRECO DI TUFO" ARE TWO DISTINGUISHED WINES, BY FAR SUPERIOR TO OTHER
FAMOUS ITALIAN WINES.
THE SMALL BUBBLING LAKE WHICH WE CAN SEE AMONG THE EMANATIONS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
AND SULPHURIC ACID IS FORMED BY THE SULPHUR AND IRON SPRINGS OF THE ANSANTE
MOFETTE. TO VIRGIL IT MUST HAVE SEEMED A MOUTH OF THE UNDERWORLD; HE DESCRIBES
IT THUS IN HIS VERSES: "HERE
IS SHOWN AN AWFUL CAVERN, AND A BREATHING-PLACE OF HORRID DIS; AND A VAST
GORGE, WHENCE ACHERON BURSTS FORTH, OPENS ITS PESTILENTIAL JAWS".
