|2 Route 1. AVELLINO. From Rome
Stat. Nola (a poor Trattoria in the Piazza), an ancient Campanian city,
almost the only one which successfully resisted the attacks of Hannibal after
the battle of Cannse, B. C. 216., and under the command of the brave M.
Marcellus repulsed the invader in 215. Here the Emperor Augustus died,
Aug. 19th, A. D. 14, in his 76th year, in the same house and apartment
where his father Octavius had bieathed his last. In ancient times Nola
was not less important than Pompeii. It is now an insignificant place and
devoid of interest. In the 5th cent., St. Paulinus, an erudite poet and Bi¬
shop of Nola (b. at Bordeaux in 354, d. 431), is said to have invented
church-bells here, from which the word campana is derived. On the 26th
of July a festival, accompanied by characteristic processions and games, is
celebrated to his honour. In the middle of the 16th cent, the free-thinker
Giordano Bruno was born at Nola; on Feb. 17th, 1600, he terminated
his chequered career at the stake in Rome. Giovanni Merliano, the celebra¬
ted sculptor of Naples, known as Giovanni da Nola, was also born here
in 1478.
Nola is celebrated as an ancient cradle of the plastic art. The magni¬
ficent vases of yellow clay, adorned with chestnut-brown figures, which
form the principal ornaments of the museums of Naples and of other pla¬
ces, were executed here , the art having been introduced, as it is believed,
by the Corinthians Eucheir and Eugrammos , B. C. 600. Numerous coins
of Nola with Greek inscriptions have also been found. About i|j M. to the
N.E. of the town is situated the Seminary, where several Latin inscriptions
and the so-called Cippus Abellanus, a remarkable inscription in the Oscan
language, are preserved. Above the seminary ('(« M.) lies the Franciscan
monastery of S. Angelo, commanding a view of the fertile and luxuriant
plain; to the 1. Monte Sonraia, behind which Vesuvius is concealed; to the
r. the mountains of Maddaloni. To the E. of the monastery another of the
Capuchin order is situated, above which the ruined castle of Cicala pictu¬
resquely surmounts an eminence.
Stat. Palma, a small town on the slopes of the range of hills N. of
Vesuvius, is picturesquely situated opposite to Ottajano. It possesses an
ancient feudal castle, now the property of the state, and is commanded by
the remnants of an extensive fortress on a neighbouring eminence.
Stat. Sarno, a place of some importance, situated on the Sarno, which
flows from this point in the direction of Scafati and Pompeii. Above it
towers a ruined stronghold, where Count Francesco Coppola long main¬
tained himself during the conspiracy of the barons against Ferdinand of
Arragon (1460), a favourite subject with artists.
The view now becomes more limited. Stations Codola and San Gio-rgio;
then San Severino (poor inn), where the line at present terminates. It will,
however he continued towards the r. to Salerno, and to the 1. to Benevento,
Avellino and Foggia. The principal church contains the tombs ofTommaso
da San Severino, high constable of the Kingdom of Naples in 1353, and of
several princes of Salerno. A good road leads from S. Severino to (10 M.)
Salerno by Baronisi, scene of the death of Fra Diavolo, and another to
Cava and Nocera.
To Avellino (11 M.) the road ascends the valley of the Sarno (to the
r. on the mountain slope Montuord), traverses the hills which separate the
Sarno from the Sabato, and descends by Celsi, Contrada and Bellizzi to
Avellino {Albergo Italia; Albergo delle Puglie), capital of the province
Principalo Ulteriore, an episcopal residence, with a population of 24,000.
The ancient palace of the Caracciolo family is now the custom-house. In
the vicinity are extensive plantations of hazel-nut trees, mentioned by the
ancients as "nuces Avellanae". The name is derived from the ancient
Abellinum, the ruins of which are 2]|4 M. distant, near the village of Atri- ■
palda.
From Avellino a visit may be paid to Monte Verging , a celebrated re¬
sort of pilgrims. The route is by (4'|2M.) Mercogliano, whence a mountain-
path leads in 1>|2 hr. to the shrine of Monte Vergine, founded in 1119 on
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