L’Archivio di Stato di Avellino was established in execution of the law of November 12, 1818 (Collection Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, 1818, no. 1379), but in fact began to operate with the first deposits only in 1820. Following the royal decree of September 22, 1932, no. 1391, it became a Provincial State Archive along with all the former Provincial Archives of the South. With the law of December 22, 1939, no. 2006, it took on the name of State Archive Section and then, with the presidential decree of September 30, 1963, no. 1409, that of State Archive. The province of Avellino or, as it was called until almost the end of the nineteenth century, Principato Ulteriore experienced rather complex events; it embraced until the unification of Italy almost the entire current province of Benevento and part of the province of Foggia: for this reason, it is possible to find in the Archive documents referring to locations currently included in the aforementioned provinces. The archives preserved here do not, of course, exhaust the documentation relating to Avellino and other locations in the current province: it will be necessary to look in particular at the collections preserved in the State Archive of Naples. The Archive’s headquarters has been located, since August 2007, in the monumental complex of the former “Bourbon prison,” designed by the architect Giuliano De Fazio and completed after the Unification of Italy. The archive occupies the pavilion intended for female detention, built in 1832 and subject to laborious and complex restoration work. The State Archive of Avellino preserves approximately 65,000 folders covering a period from 1423 to 1960. The documentary material is divided by historical periods: • Ancien Régimes 1423 – 1814; • Napoleonic Period 1806 – 1814; • Bourbon Restoration 1815 – 1860; • Unification of Italy 1861 – 1944; • Republic 1945 – 1960. The preserved collections are: Royal Provincial Court of Montefusco, Grand Criminal Court, Municipalities, Intendency of P.U. and Prefecture, Magistracies and Courts, Military district of Avellino, Civil status, Religious corporations, Family and personal archives ( Mazas, Grassi, Cicarelli, Iandoli, Grimaldi and Sanseverini). Important for the economic history of the province are the Cadastres, the municipal state acts (Commissioner for Civic Uses for Campania) and the documents of the Royal Economic Society. Of some importance are the parchments related to suppressed religious entities (1423-1882) and a miscellany of parchments (1454-1757) consisting of ecclesiastical bulls and privileges dating back to the Aragonese period and the time of the Spanish viceroyalty. One of the most substantial collections is undoubtedly the Notarial Archive 1494 – 1899, a source of great interest for the study of social phenomena. Prepared by the State Archivists, guides, directories, lists, summary and analytical inventories, indices, registers, transcriptions, and computerized databases exist.
Information about the State Archive of Avellino
Via G. Verdi, 15/17
83100 Avellino (Avellino)
0825.779111 – 0825.779502 – 0825.779516
as-av@beniculturali.it
https://www.archivi.beniculturali.it/ASAV/
Source: MIBACT
