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Calabritto
Calabritto
Comune
	Comune di Calabritto
	Panoramic view
	Location of Calabritto
	Calabritto Location of Calabritto in Italy Calabritto Calabritto (Campania)
	Coordinates: 40°47′0″N 15°13′29″E / 40.78333°N 15.22472°E
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Province	Avellino (AV)
Frazioni	Quaglietta
Government
• Mayor	Gelsomino Centanni
Area
• Total	56.33 km2 (21.75 sq mi)
Elevation	480 m (1,570 ft)
Population (30 April 2017)
• Total	2,358
• Density	42/km2 (110/sq mi)
Demonym	Calabrittani
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	83040
Dialing code	0827
Patron saint	Madonna della Neve
Saint day	5 August

Calabritto (Irpino: Calavrìttu) is an Italian town and a commune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. It occupies a hilly-mountainous area at the eastern tip of the Monti Picentini range, in the upper Sele valley.

Geography

Calabritto is a small town surrounded by the Picentini mountains in the west and crossed by Sele river in its eastern side, and a stream called the Zagarone. It is linked with a mountain road to the ski resort and village of Laceno.^[3] It is considered part of the upper Sele valley. It borders the municipalities of Acerno (SA), Bagnoli Irpino, Caposele, Lioni, Senerchia and Valva (SA). It sits 460 meters above sea level on the slopes of Mount Altillo at the eastern end of the Picentini mountains. There are many springs, some of which feed into the Asis Aqueduct, which provides water for 155 municipalities in the province of Salerno.^[4] The only civil parish (frazione) of the municipality is Quaglietta, autonomous municipality merged into Calabritto in 1928. Quaglietta means "little quail."

Calabritto is the municipality in Campania with the largest number of waterfalls. It is surrounded by at least 14, and they are formed by various streams and rivers, including the Ponticchio, Vallone del Lupolo, Vado Carpino, Rivezzuolo, and Zagarone. Calabritto boasts Rivezzuolo, the highest waterfall in the province of Avellino, 80 meters high.^[5]^[6]

Culture

The town is known for its religious processions, in which residents carry a statue on a litter, walking slowly through the streets. On the last Sunday in July, residents walk halfway up one of the mountains to the church of The Madonna della Neve ("Our Lady of the Snows"), the patron saint of Calabritto.^[7]^[8] Many of these processions carried over to the United States, when immigrants from Calabritto and other nearby areas brought them to Hammonton, New Jersey and Newark, New Jersey from 1872 through the early 1900s.^[9]^[10] A photograph of a Calabrittani who is said to be the first Italian inhabitant of Newark, New Jersey (along with his brother-in-law) is on the Internet Archive.^[11]^[12]

Every October it celebrates the "Festa della Castagna Calabrittana," a chestnut festival, crowning a queen ("la Castagna Regina"), and organizing hikes with the local group Calabritto Escursioni (excursions). These trips are called "Cascate e Castagne," or waterfalls and chestnuts. Participants gather chestnuts, sample chestnut products and local foods, and attend a festival in the town square.^[13] The area is also known for its mushrooms.^[14]

According to a previous version of this article, many of its citizens work for an industrial firm in Salerno. Some common Calabritto family names are Castagno, D`Alessio, Del Guercio, Di Mattia, Di Popolo, Di Trolio, Ficetola, Filippone, Fungaroli, Gonnella, Mattia, Megaro, Papa, Rizzolo, and Zecca.

Landmarks

The ruins of the Lombard-era Castello di Quaglietta (Quaglietta castle) overlook the Sele valley. The castle may date to the Lombard era of 568 to 774. It has an irregular shape that may have been strategic.^[15] It was restored between 1988 and 2011.^[16]

La Madonna della Fiume (Madonna of the River) is one of the most interesting local churches, because it is located inside of a cave and is a popular site for day hikes.^[17] Il Santuario Madonna della Neve (Shrine of Our Lady of the Snow) was destroyed during the 1980 earthquake and rebuilt. However, its bell tower is original, with one of its two bells dating to 1759. The shrine sits at the edge of one of the mountain cliffs, and overlooks the Valle dell'Alto Sele from a distance of about 800 meters. One of the statues of the Madonna is from the 18th century.^[18] There is also a nearby Monastery of Santa Maria dell'Alta Sede.

There are waterfalls in the area, including the Bard'natore and the Cascata del Tuorno.^[19]

Earthquakes

Both Calabritto and the larger region of Avellino have been affected by earthquakes throughout history. According to Maugeri and Carrubba, the region has seen 50 maximum-intensity earthquakes in the 2,000 years preceding 1997.^[20] These include the AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, the 1732 Irpinia earthquake, the 1805 Molise earthquake, the 1962 Irpinia earthquake, and most devastatingly for Calabritto, the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.

The latter, which took place on November 23, 1980, nearly destroyed the town, causing 100 deaths out of its then-3,200 population, and three hundred injuries. There were over 600 aftershocks of up to 4.2.^[21] 95% of its approximately 600 buildings were damaged.^[22]^[23] Some residents left and did not return, so its population dropped by about 20%, from 3,200 to 2,700. In the early 1960s it was 4,200.^[24]

Origins of its name

According to the Italian counterpart to this page (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabritto), the name "Calabritto" derives from the Latin "kalabrix," a thorny plant similar to the hawthorn, but the claim is not supported by an authoritative citation and seems dubious. Another theory connects it to an ancient Greek city, Kalavryta, with a similar terrain. This theory also cites a popular local legend, but none of these can be easily substantiated.^[25]

References

^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ All demographics and other statistics from the Italian statistical institute (Istat); Dati Istat - Popolazione residente all'1/5/2009
^ Grisi, Amato (1987). L'alta Valle del Sele: Buccino, Calabritto, Caposele, Castelnuovo di Conza, Colliano, Contursi Terme, Laviano, Oliveto Citra, Palomonte, Quaglietta, Santomenna, Senerchia, Valva, dalle origini al XV secolo. Boccia.
^ Gelsomino del Guercio, Luigi Mattia. "Calabritto Escursioni".
^ "Cascate di Calabritto". Instagram.
^ "Cascata del Rivezzuolo (Rivezzuolo waterfall)". Chill With Me. Scopri le cascate di Calabritto nel Parco Regionale dei Monti Picentini. (Translation, Discover the Calabritto waterfalls in the Monti Picentini Regional Park)
^ Immerso, Michael (August 1999). Newark's Little Italy: The Vanished First Ward. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 95. ISBN 9780813527574.
^ "Calabritto, July 27, 2008, Madonna della Neve" on YouTube
^ Lee, Sandra S. (2008). Italian Americans of Newark, Belleville, and Nutley. Arcadia. p. 95.
^ Pinto, G. (1976). "Calabrittani: First Settlers in Newark". L'Italico. 3 (3).
^ "Angelomaria (Angelo) Mattia". Internet Archive. 1920. Angelomaria Mattia (1841 - 1925) is sometimes called Angelo Maria, and is often credited with being the first Italian to arrive in Newark's First Ward, along with his brother-in-law, Alfonso Ilaria (1853 - 1905). Born in Calabritto, Italy, Angelomaria was married to Filomena Ilaria (1843 - 1915) of Caposele, Italy. They had four children, two of whom survived infancy: Petrino B. Mattia (1869 - 1953) and Rizziere/Richard F. Mattia (1872 - 1961). Original is in family archives; a print is at the Museum of the Old First Ward, in Newark, NJ.
^ "Calabrittani, undated". Giovanni Pinto papers, 1962-2008, Box: 1, File: 12, p. Monsignor Noe Field Archives & Special Collections Center. Seton Hall University.
^ "Calabritto celebra la "Castagna Regina"". October 2022.
^ Tonino Di Mattia (local photographer and historian), "Calabritto 17 Ottobre 2012" Video on YouTube
^ "Borgo e castello medievale di Quaglietta". Sistema Irpinia. Provincia di Avellino.
^ "Restauro del Castello di Quaglietta, 1988-2011". Verderosa Studio. Comunità Montana Terminio-Cervialto Comune di Calabritto.
^ "La chiesa rupestre della Madonna del Fiume". komoot.
^ "Santuario di Maria SS. della Neve di Calabritto". Sistema Irpinia.
^ "Cascate di Calabritto".
^ Sêco e Pinto, Pedro Simão (1997). Seismic Behaviour of Ground and Geotechnical Structures: Special Volume of TC 4. Rotterdam: Balkema. pp. 81–96. M. Maugeri and P. Carrubba, "Microzonation for ground motion during the 1980 Irpinia earthquake at Calabritto, Italy"
^ Ibid, 82.
^ Ibid.
^ Pulinets, Sergey; Boyarchuk, Kyrill (2005). Ionospheric Precursors of Earthquakes. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 220. ISBN 9783540264682.
^ Pinto, Giovanni (2022). The Prevident Progeny: Italians in America. L'Italico. ISBN 9781669816171.
^ "Calabritto, Province of Avellino, Campania". Italy Heritage.