Irpinia

Irpinia (Latin Hirpinia) is a region of the Apennine Mountains around Avellino, a town in Campania, South Italy about 40 km east of Naples. In antiquity this was the territory of the Hirpini; its extent corresponds approximately to that of today’s province of Avellino.

Geography

The territory is largely mountainous, with an intricate network of hills and valleys and a predominantly limestone Karst topography. To the west, however, the rocks are mostly sandstone, and the land is lower. Irpinia is centred on the section of the Apennines which runs from the Sella di Ariano to the springs of the Sele River; the highest peak is Mount Avella (1,591 m). To the south are the Picentini Mountains, which include the highest peak of the region, Mount Terminio (1,783 m), and from which extends the Sorrentine peninsula. The region is bordered on the east by the Ofanto valley and the San Pietro lake, while to the north it merges with Sannio and Daunia.

History

The name "Irpinia" derives from the Oscan word "hirpus", which means wolf, and the wolf remains Irpinia's symbol to this day. Oscan tribes of the Sabines, under demographic pressure, migrated towards this area in the 6th century BC from what is now Umbria. The Hirpini occupied the region Sabato, Calore Irpino and Ofanto, becoming differentiated with time from the Samnites who settled the area from Molise and Matese. The main centres of the Hirpini were Malies or Maloenton (modern Benevento), Romulea (Bisaccia), Compsa (Conza), Aquilonia, Lacedonia, Aletrium (Calitri) and Abellinum (Avellino).