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Clung to a
small hill at the feet of the Camino mountain, with its ancient castle, Rocca
d'Evandro dominates the ample valley of Garigliano river. From the tenth century
fortress, castled on top of the village,eyes go to the Ausoni mountains, to the Cairo
mount, to the Mainarde: they delimit a territory of extraordinary interest, as far as
history and landscape are concerned. The origins of the country are remote and
uncertain, as well as its own name. Long before the year one thousand, the village is
known as "Rocca di Bandra" or "Rocca di Vandra"; and a document,dated
July 11th 961,attests its transfer by the Princes of Capua and Benevento, Pandolfo and
Landolfo III, to the Monastery of St. Salvatore. In 1117 and 1343 two earthquakes
devastate the country, as well as many others centers of the zone, including Montecassino.
Completely reconstructed, the Fortress gets through difficult centuries. Its strategic
position is the cause of bitter arguments between various contenders; and in XIVth century
the abbots of Montecassino can take its possession. |
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At the beginnings of the XVIth century,
Rocca d'Evandro, as well as Camino and Mignano, is part of the possessions of Ettore
Fieramosca, the hero of Barletta's Challenge. In 1534, having conquered
the Kingdom of Naples, Charles V gives it to the famous poetess Vittoria Colonna for
having sent provisions and explorers to Naples during the siege of Lautrec from the castle
of Ischia. The history of Rocca d'Evandro can be mostly identified with that of its
castle. Only in XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries the fortress, through long
restauration and amplification work, takes on its actual characters. In 1980 the town
council acquires it and installs there the Museum of the river
civilization and of the country culture: with remains from prehistoric, roman and
medieval age. Some important testimonies of the Roman period are also the rests of a wine
landing, come to light around Mortola, in the so-called area of Porto di Mola.
Remarkable monuments of the city center and its surroundings are the Church of Santa Maria
Maggiore, with a very handsome altar and a XVIIIth wooden choir; the Church of the
Farneto, of the same period; the seventeenth century Sanctuary of Mount Camino, at more
than a thousand meters height, only attainable by feet; the Hermitage of the Eterno Padre
in Vallevona (XVIth century); the Church of Santa Maria of Mortola, near Suio, and the
fifteenth century ruins of St. Tommaso's Chapel. |
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