The transformation into homes of some of the sixteen towers that surround the old manor house which dominates the area in an almost ghostly way is certainly curious. medieval village of Vairano Patenora, a center with ancient origins located in the province of Casertain Campania. If you are passionate about villages abandoned, we suggest what to see in Vairano Patenora.
Vairano Patenora: abandoned village
The “Terra” village, perched along the slopes of “Piesco” and enclosed in a hexagonal and turreted city wall, has only three access doors, the Castle Gate, Middle Gate , Bring Olives.
On one side it overlooks the fertile and flat valley crossed by the sinuous curves of the river Volturno, from another side looks at the mountain of Caievola and from yet another the mountain Montauro, Or the Guardia lace, an important observation point from where you can control the streets Casilina e Venafrana.
Evidently the feudal lord of the town, building his castle in such a strategic defensive position, considered the conquest of his territories by enemies and invaders very attractive; in fact the Terra di Lavoro area owes its richness to the fertility of the soil and grazing, two activities possible due to the large presence of water. Vairano Patenora, thanks to the riches offered by nature, had a constant increase in population over time. Thus various inhabited areas arose outside its walls, subject to the authority of the same feudal lord.
The farmhouses of Vairano Patenora
I Greek farmhouses, Square e Santa Maria a Fratta they were groupings of farmhouses, mostly made up of a large threshing floor with a well and a small vegetable garden, and represented the production cell of the town: the threshing floor was used to thresh cereals, while of the two levels of the house the first was inhabited , while the ground floor was normally used as a stable.
The breeding was so flourishing that in 1660 the considerable number of 2200 heads of cattle was reached; the processing of flax and hemp and the production of wheat and barley integrated the local economy. The large quantity of animals present in the town caused quite a few hygiene problems, and it is easy to imagine what could happen during their transfer from the town to the grazing areas in the morning hours and then in the evening when they returned from the countryside. The issue was resolved only in 1954, when the then mayor Guido di Muccio he ordered the gradual decentralization of all activities related to breeding.
Vairano Patenora: the fairs
Near theCistercian abbey of Ferrara (of which the ruins can be seen today) two important annual fairs were held, one in Ascension Day and the other in that ofServing: (15 May and 15 August); the prevalence of exchanges concerned livestock, but food products were also sold, including the famous ones celery from Venafro and the "piece of Vairano“, a delicious sheep's cheese produced during the spring season. Over time the fairs took on larger dimensions until they became real markets and were transferred to the current one Market Square, in the center of Vairano Patenora.
Today, near the ruins of the abbey, the modern structure of one of the control centers of the imposing aqueduct - the second in the world after that of Città del Mexico – which contributes to the water supply of the Neapolitan territory.
