The Patron
San Martino
Kept on 11 November. His church stands beside the castle ruins on the colle di San Martino, and its core is thirteenth-century.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Avellino,
Campania
A castle hill where a rising against the Bourbons began.
Monteforte Irpino sits on the pass between Naples and Avellino , under the ruins of the castle that gave it its name — a Lombard fortress on the colle di San Martino, enlarged by Angevins and Aragonese.
It has been on the record since 891 , and on the wrong side of authority more than once. The one thing to know before searching is that the word Irpino was added later.
The Rising
1 July 1820
When the Carbonari rose at Nola, the insurgents following Michele Morelli raised the flag of liberty at Monteforte. The town is named in the Risorgimento's record because of it.
The Landmark
Orfanotrofio Loffredo
A public orphanage from 6 December 1842, for orphans and foundlings born in Monteforte or to Montefortese fathers. An internment camp from 1940 to 1943. The town hall today.
Did you know?
THE SUFFIX CAME LATER
Before it was Irpino, it was simply Monteforte
The comune took the word Irpino to mark which Irpinia it belonged to, and the older records do not carry it. Searching for Monteforte alone turns up Monteforte d'Alpone in Veneto and Monteforte Cilento in Salerno as readily as this one, so the province has to be carried in the query.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard, and local speech is the Irpinian variety of Campanian. Montefortesi is the demonym.
From 891, and steadily thereafter
The castle that gives the town its name was probably a Roman castrum first, rebuilt in stone by the Lombards . From 891 Monteforte appears steadily in the documents.
Under the Angevins the fief passed to the princes of Montfort , and one of them lived here: Guido di Montfort , who on 25 May 1270 , in the church of San Silvestro at Viterbo, murdered Henry of Cornwall , son of King Richard I of England — an act notorious enough across Europe that Dante put him in the Inferno. The fief went afterwards to the Orsini , last counts of Nola, who lost it for rebelling against Charles V.
In 1799 the French put a detachment here and moved on Mercogliano and Avellino from it. Then, on 1 July 1820 , the Carbonari rose at Nola, and the insurgents following Michele Morelli came to Monteforte and raised the flag of liberty against the Bourbons. It is the reason the town's name is in the Risorgimento's record.
A darker entry follows. In June 1940 the regime opened an internment camp in the former women's wing of the Orfanotrofio Loffredo , in the Vetriera district — about a hundred Italians it classed as dangerous, and about a hundred Dalmatian and Istrian refugees. It closed in 1943 , and the building is the town hall today.
Wear Monteforte Irpino
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Avellino.
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Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI AVELLINO
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Avellino and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE AVELLINO →REGIONE CAMPANIA
From the mountains to the sea, Campania is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE CAMPANIA →From the passenger index
At least 1,503 people who gave Monteforte Irpino as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
The colle di San Martino
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Naples International Airport (Capodichino).
Monteforte Irpino is strung along the pass, and the historic part is not where the traffic is. Go up.
The colle di San Martino carries the castle ruins and the church, set in a pinewood, and it is the oldest and best part of the comune — the fortress held the road between Naples and Avellino, which is the whole reason the town is here.
In the town itself, Piazza Umberto I is the centre, with the parish church of San Nicola di Bari and the old municipio, now the Casa della Cultura, facing each other across it.
Avellino is minutes east, and Mercogliano and Montevergine are just north.
What to see
I ruderi del castello — the Lombard fortress on the colle di San Martino.
La chiesa di San Martino — the patron's church, thirteenth-century in its core.
L'ex Orfanotrofio Loffredo — an orphanage from 1842, a camp from 1940, the town hall now.
La chiesa madre di San Nicola di Bari — seventeenth-century, with Neapolitan canvases.
Piazza Umberto I — the centre of the town.
Alvanella — where the Roman milestone was found on the road to Naples.
A day here
Morning
Drive up to the colle di San Martino. The castle ruins sit in a fenced pinewood — perimeter walls in rough stone, a round tower, an artistic fireplace — and this is the original Monteforte, the fortress that held the road to Naples.
Midday
Look into the church of San Martino beside it. Thirteenth-century in its core, with a coffered ceiling, a majolica floor and the statue of the patron whose day the town keeps on 11 November.
Afternoon
Come down to Piazza Umberto I, the square where the parish church of San Nicola di Bari faces the old municipio, now the Casa della Cultura. The eighteenth-century canvases inside the church are of the Neapolitan and Solimena schools.
Late afternoon
Drive the frazioni — Alvanella, where a Roman milestone confirmed the road to Naples ran through here, and the others along the slope.
Before you leave
Stand on the pass and look both ways, to Naples on one side and Avellino on the other. Everything that has happened in this town happened because of that.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Older records give the bare name Monteforte. Carry the province, or you will find Monteforte d'Alpone in Veneto instead.
Related places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.