Since prehistoric times, the village of Montecalvo Irpino has always played the role of an important road traffic hub, as evidenced by the necropolis of the 7th century BC, discovered in the Contrada S. Vito area, where hundreds of tombs, funerary objects and ceramics were found. The role played by Montecalvo is confirmed by the Roman bridges, near the railway station on the Miscano (S. Egidio) and the one in the Pezza di Cristina (del Diavolo) area, which together with other archaeological evid read more
Since prehistoric times, the village of Montecalvo Irpino has always played the role of an important road traffic hub, as evidenced by the necropolis of the 7th century BC, discovered in the Contrada S. Vito area, where hundreds of tombs, funerary objects and ceramics were found. The role played by Montecalvo is confirmed by the Roman bridges, near the railway station on the Miscano (S. Egidio) and the one in the Pezza di Cristina (del Diavolo) area, which together with other archaeological evidence from the Roman era lead us to believe that the ancient Forum Novum arose in this area. The area of Montecalvo was permanently inhabited by Norman and Lombard populations, so much so that the name "Mons calvus" would be of Norman origin, probably to underline the fact that the village was built on top of a mountain devoid of vegetation. The Norman and Lombard invaders pushed the Montecalvo people to reoccupy the old Roman settlements, such as the Rocca Romana, built at the time of the Samnite wars as a garrison to defend the Via Traiana (which from Benevento in the direction of Brindisi entered Montecalvo at the height of the locality of Malvizza). In 1099, sixty armed men left Montecalvo to take part in the Crusade to the Holy Land called by William the Good. The ruins of the hospital of S. Caterina represent what remains of the complex built by the survivors of the crusade inside the walls. In 1137, Roger the Norman, the future King of the Two Sicilies, stopped near the castle with his soldiers, during the war against his brother-in-law Rainulf, Count of Avellino. Subsequently, Montecalvo was the object of various lordships (it was a fief of the Potofranco, Sabran, Carafa, Guevara, Manzella, Sabrano, Sforza and Gagliardi) and was linked to the County of Ariano until 1505, when it became autonomous. Then, it returned to the Pignatelli (elevated to Dukes by Philip III of Spain), until the abolition of feudalism. In 1656 Montecalvo was struck by the plague that killed 2090 people. In 1710 Domenico Pirrotti was born in Montecalvo, proclaimed a Saint with the name S. Pompilio Maria Pirrotti in 1890, by Pope Leo XIII. The revolutionary movements of the 19th century saw the participation of several Montecalvese carbonari. Among the architectures present in the village, the Pignatelli Castle of Montecalvo Irpino is the most important. The Castle owes its name to one of the last families to administer the town: the Pignatelli. Its origins are very ancient: the first document mentioning its existence dates back to 1096. However, almost nothing remains of its original appearance, also because the numerous noble families who have owned it over the centuries have adapted the structure based on the defensive system required at the time. The current appearance of the Montecalvo Irpino Castle is the result of an extensive restoration commissioned by the Pignatelli family after the serious damage caused by the earthquake of 1456, and of the work of the Carafa family, who held the fiefdom for over 300 years until the early 19th century. The eighteenth-century bastions built to defend the Castle from attacks by enemy troops are still visible today. The recently restored Pignatelli Castle is accessed through an arch dating back to 1505. Located in Via Santa Maria, it opens onto the internal courtyard, while on the outside the remains of a cylindrical tower and the curtain wall that runs along the perimeter are still visible. Trappeto is what remains of the ancient village, of which there is not much certain information and no in-depth studies have yet been carried out on site. The presence of "cave-houses", however, allows us to affirm that it probably arose during the Neolithic or even in the Upper Paleolithic. Abandoned for a long time, the houses dug into the sandstone of Trappeto were inhabited again in the Middle Ages and, with the spread of Christianity, the first rock churches also began to arise next to them. The settlement was organized on several levels and the houses had a facade and a first room built by man with the materials obtained by digging the cave. The ancient "cave-houses" of Trappeto are now immersed in silence, but they were inhabited for a long time, until, from the 1950s onwards, the inhabitants of these began to emigrate and leave them. read less
