Castel Volturno, Italy

Castel Volturno, Italy

Castel Volturno Italy

Castel Volturno was originally a settlement of the Oscans and later of the Etruscans, who called it Volturnum. It served as a trading post on the road to Casilinum and Capua. Volturnum became a Roman colony in 194 BC and, in 95 AD, it was reached by the Via Domitiana and provided with a large bridge linking the two banks of the river of the same name. The town went into decline after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In 806, Duke Grimoald I of Benevento granted its port to the abbots of Montecassino, and in 841 it was ravaged by Saracens. After 856, the Lombard bishop Radipert had a castle built on the remains of the bridge. Following a period under local counts, it was again given to Montecassino in 1062, while in 1206 Frederick II donated it to the archbishops of Capua. Alfonso V of Naples granted it to his daughter, but in 1460 her husband, Duke Marino of Sessa, rebelled, besieged the town and demolished part of its walls. The following year, the king sold it to the city of Capua, which controlled it until the abolition of feudalism in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1810. It became an autonomous comune in 1812 and, in 1860, it was annexed to the newly unified Kingdom of Italy. Castel Volturno’s agricultural sector received a major boost after nearby marshlands were drained during the Fascist period and, later, with the construction of the new Domiziana Road and a new bridge in 1954.
Recommended airport
Capodichino (NAP)
Nearby destinations
  • Naples a 32.13 km
  • Ischia Island a 31.17 km
  • Caserta a 33.02 km