It was the name given by the Chalcidians to the area, and Aberula, derived from Aper, wild boar, is the other possible origin of the current name, Avella, in the province of Avellino.
It is nestled against the mountains of Partenio and crossed by the Clanis river; it is surrounded by lush countryside and dominated by the remains of a mighty castle; it hides spectacular Roman remains and preserves what remains of an ancient plane tree with a trunk circumference of 15 meters that was planted four hundred years ago in the gardens of the Ducal Palace of the Colonna family. Watercourses wind through the ravines and gorges of Sorrencello and the echo of the wind is heard in the cave of the Sportiglioni and in that of the Camerelle.
You will then be surprised by the panoramic road leading to the Campo di Summonte, from where the gaze can reach Punta Licosa and the island of Ponza, the Maiella massif and the Vulture valley. And everything is to be discovered, like a treasure hunt; nothing is indicated, nothing is instantly visible, except for the old castle that rises among broom bushes, agaves, and olive trees.
But what will make the walk in these places even more amazing and exciting will be the hikes through the flourishing hazelnut plantations, the encounter with herds of buffaloes, skillfully managed by horsemen, along the paths that wind through the Fontanelle valley, the sight of the soaring flights of crows and sparrowhawks in the gorges of the Avella Mountains. Then climbing up among chestnut groves and holm oak woods, and crossing beech forests, you will reach an uncontaminated environment; the morphology of the region and the inaccessibility of some areas were ideal conditions for wolves and wild boars, unfortunately now extinct. Also, the badger, polecat, beech marten, and marten that populate the area today face the risk of extinction.
The naturalistic itinerary is well complemented by the possibility of visiting natural caverns of great interest: the Camerelle cave in Pianura, about 150 meters deep, offers the spectacle of rich concretions and imposing columnar formations, while the Sportiglioni cave, inhabited by bats and extending for almost 250 meters, ranks among the top ten regional caves for biospeleological interest.
But there is also another cave, about 2 kilometers from Avella, following the course of the Clinio river, in the Vallone delle Fontanelle: the San Michele cave, 55 meters long and 5 meters deep, used in ancient times for religious rites as evidenced by the presence of interesting Byzantine-style popular paintings dating back before 1300. Going further back in time, we have ample testimony of the Roman period; a characteristic of the era was the urban grid structure; Avella was built following the principle of the cardines and decumani, the first oriented along the north-south axis and the second along the east-west; the “decumano major”, today identifiable as Corso Vittorio Emanuele, leads directly to the amphitheater, with double arches and an elliptical plan, completely hidden by the hazelnut plantations and whose dimensions clearly suggest the size the town had at that time.
Also, the discovery along the Via Popilia of three majestic funerary monuments dating back to the 1st century BC and perfectly preserved, in addition to the remains of the aqueduct called “San Paolino” along the upper Clanis river, are fundamental proof of the importance assumed by ancient Abella. From here also comes the discovery of the “Cippus Abellanus”, a stone block engraved in the Oscan language recording an agreement between Nola and Abella for the use of a common territory on which stood a sanctuary dedicated to Hercules. The “Cippus Abellanus”, from 150 BC, found among the ruins of the Avella Castle, is currently preserved in the Episcopal Seminary of Nola.
