It’s certainly curious the transformation into residences of some of the sixteen towers that surround the old manor house that looms almost spectrally over the medieval village of Vairano Patenora, a center with ancient origins located in the province of Caserta, in Campania. If you are passionate about abandoned villages, we suggest what to see in Vairano Patenora.
Vairano Patenora: abandoned village
The village “Terra,” perched along the slopes of the “Piesco” and enclosed within a hexagonal and turreted wall, has only three access gates, the Porta Castello, the Porta di Mezzo, and the Porta Olive.
On one side it overlooks the fertile and flat valley crossed by the winding curves of the Volturno river, on another side it faces the Caievola mountain, and on yet another the Montauro mountain, or the Pizzo di Guardia, an important observation point from where one can control the Casilina and Venafrana routes.
Evidently, the feudal lord of the village, building his castle in such a strategic defensive position, considered the conquest of his territories by enemies and invaders highly likely; in fact, the Terra di Lavoro area owes its wealth to the fertility of the land and grazing, two activities made possible by the large presence of water. Vairano Patenora, thanks to the riches offered by nature, experienced a steady population increase over time. Thus, various inhabited nuclei arose outside its walls, subjected to the authority of the same feudal lord.
The farmhouses of Vairano Patenora
The Greci farmhouses, Piazza and Santa Maria a Fratta were clusters of farmhouses, mostly consisting of a large courtyard with a well and a small garden, and represented the productive unit of the village: the courtyard was used to thresh cereals, while of the two levels of the house the first was inhabited, whereas the ground floor was normally used as a stable.
Livestock farming was so prosperous that in 1660 the notable number of 2200 head of cattle was reached; flax and hemp processing and the production of wheat and barley complemented the local economy. The large number of animals present in the village caused considerable hygiene problems, and it is easy to imagine what might have happened during their transfer from the village to the grazing areas in the morning and then in the evening when returning from the fields. The issue was resolved only in 1954, when the then mayor Guido di Muccio ordered the gradual decentralization of all activities related to livestock farming.
Vairano Patenora: the fairs
Near the Cistercian abbey of Ferrara (of which only ruins can be seen today) two important annual fairs took place, one on Ascension Day and the other on Assumption Day (May 15 and August 15); the majority of the trade concerned livestock, but food products were also sold including the famous Venafro celery and the “pezza di Vairano“, a delicious sheep’s cheese produced during the spring season. Over time, the fairs grew larger until they became real markets and were moved to the current piazza Mercato, in the center of Vairano Patenora.
Today near the ruins of the abbey, the modern structure of one of the control centers for the impressive aqueduct – the second largest in the world after that of Mexico City – which contributes to the water supply of the Naples area, stands prominently.
