Aversa

Aversa [aˈvɛrsa] (Neapolitan: Averza) is a city and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 5 kilometres (3 miles) north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical buffalo mozzarella). Aversa is also the main seat of the faculties of Architecture and Engineering of the Seconda università degli studi di Napoli (Second University of Naples).

Geography

Aversa is located on the Mediterranean, more specifically the Tyrrhenian Sea, near the city of Naples, from which it is separated by only 5 kilometres (3 miles), and only 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Caserta, the capital of the province to which it belongs, the Caserta Province.

It is located in a fertile coastal plain north of Naples, thus serving as a market for agricultural products to the city. The plain on which it sits was known in ancient Roman times as the Campania Felix.

History

Prehistory

Although some archaeological sites excavated near Aversa have revealed human presence in the area since the Neolithic period, the first known inhabitants in the area were the Liburnians, people related to the Illyrians, whose territory was bounded on the south by Naples, west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and north along the Clanio river. However, some say that the founding of the city took place with the Etruscans.