Cerreto Sannita
Cerreto Sannita (BN)
Hidden gemVillages
The story
Razed by the earthquake of 1688 and rebuilt from a drawing board on a chessboard of straight streets, it lives on ceramics in whites and yellows that have been painted here for centuries.
Access
FREE
The story
Cerreto Sannita is a town born twice. The old Cerreto was razed to the ground by the earthquake of 5 June 1688; in its place, at the will of Count Marzio Carafa, a new one arose a short distance away, designed on the drawing board by the engineer Giovanni Battista Manni on a regular and anti-seismic layout — one of the first examples of planned urbanism in the South. A fief of the Sanframondo and then of the Carafa, the town has for centuries been tied to an art that makes it famous: ceramics.
What to see
The charm of Cerreto is in its orderly layout, with the regular streets and the Baroque churches rebuilt after 1688. But the name of Cerreto Sannita is above all that of its ceramics, a centuries-old art that still today animates the workshops of the centre and is the main reason the village is known.
How to get there
- Car needed
Public transport. Il trasporto pubblico in quest'area interna è limitato: i collegamenti in autobus sono radi e non sempre giornalieri. In pratica il luogo è difficilmente raggiungibile senza un mezzo proprio; per eventuali autolinee e per la stazione ferroviaria utile più vicina, verifica su Unico Campania e sui canali ufficiali degli operatori regionali (AIR Campania). · fonte: Fallback onesto — area interna, routing transit non disponibile
Hours and prices
Free entry.
Tips
Look for the craft workshops of ceramics: they are the living soul of the town and the most authentic souvenir. The centre, flat and regular, is comfortably explored on foot. It is reached by car, in the Telesina Valley; to be combined with the nearby Guardia Sanframondi and Cusano Mutri.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Cerreto Sannita have such a regular urban layout?
Because it was rebuilt from scratch, to a design by Giovanni Battista Manni at the will of Count Marzio Carafa, after the 1688 earthquake had destroyed the old Cerreto.
What is Cerreto Sannita famous for?
For its centuries-old art of ceramics, still alive in the workshops of the centre.
Where is Cerreto Sannita?
In the Telesina Valley, in the province of Benevento, in the Sannio.
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On the hill lie the ruins of medieval Cerreto, broken in a single evening of 1688: walls and alleys brought back by excavation, a ghost town watching its heir down in the valley.
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Thirteen metres of round-arched stone over which, they say, Carthaginian elephants passed. An iron elephant on the provincial road is the only hint that history walked through here.
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