Campagna

Campagna is an Italian town of 16,680 inhabitants in the province of Salerno in Campania. Formerly known as Civitas Campaniae, the city was for centuries the main economic, administrative and religious center of the Sele plain.

Origin of name: The name Campagna derives from the contraction of the term finibus Campanie used until the early 11th century to identify, in public documents, the territories located near the Sele river, on the border with Campania. In a document from 1056, a castellum Campanie is mentioned for the first time.

News of the town date back to the 9th century in the Lombard period. Later becoming a fief of the Normans, its castle, Gerione, acquired importance becoming one of the castra exempta administered directly by Frederick II of Swabia. From the 15th century the golden age of Campagna began. With the arrival of the Orsini of Gravina the town developed considerably. From 1532 to 1641 in alternating events Campagna became a marquisate: the fief was then given to the Grimaldi family of Monaco who also read more

News of the town date back to the 9th century in the Lombard period. Later becoming a fief of the Normans, its castle, Gerione, acquired importance becoming one of the castra exempta administered directly by Frederick II of Swabia. From the 15th century the golden age of Campagna began. With the arrival of the Orsini of Gravina the town developed considerably. From 1532 to 1641 in alternating events Campagna became a marquisate: the fief was then given to the Grimaldi family of Monaco who also acquired the noble title. During the Monegasque period the city was a diocesan seat as well as a feudal capital including Canosa di Puglia, Terlizzi, Monteverde, Ripacandida and the castle of Garagnone. Numerous religious and civil buildings were built, monumental fountains constructed and literary academies established. It became the capital of the District of the same name, of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Town Hall of Campagna, a former Augustinian convent and seat of the administrative offices of the District, during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and of the District with the Kingdom of Italy. In 1545, the first printing house in the current Salerno area was founded by Giovan Antonio De Nigris and Marco Fileta Filiuli in the Palazzo Tercasio (convent of the Poor Clares of SS. Filippo and Giacomo), initially linked to the lessons held in the Dominican convent of San Bartolomeo, where the two founders taught, together with other illustrious intellectuals, including Giulio Cesare Capaccio. The art of printing, which in the 16th century had reached a high level with De Nigris and Filuli, would have reached a particular splendor in the mid-17th century, thanks to the work of Bishop Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, who set up a new printing press, where rare and valuable editions were published, with a production of texts that continued until 1673. Today, the city of Campagna, with a territory of 135 km², ironically, does not have any printing press. Once the district capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the unification of Italy it became the district capital and the seat of a military district. With the advent of fascism, two of its former convent structures were used as concentration camps for Jews: the former Convent of the Dominican Friars of San Bartolomeo (reserved for males) and the former Convent of the Observants of the Conception (reserved for women). The importance it had gained in previous centuries slowly disappeared due to its geographical position, which did not allow for adequate urban expansion. read less