Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, historic centre

The municipality of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi (Avellino) lies in Alta Irpinia, on the watershed between the River Ofanto and the River Fredane (a tributary of the Calore), at an altitude of 870 metres, and has around 4,100 inhabitants. The earthquake of 23 November 1980 claimed the lives of 432 of its people. It is an important diocesan seat and home to a hospital and rehabilitation centre, while its court was abolished in 2012. The name comes from devotion to the Archangel Michael, while 'Lombardi' refers to the Lombards, who made it an important administrative and military stronghold.

The photograph of the Cathedral's Renaissance doorway framing the rubble, taken the day after the earthquake of 23 November 1980, went round the world. Here the earthquake reached the ninth degree on the Mercalli scale, and the old town at the head of the Ofanto valley, with its rich historic fabric, was almost entirely destroyed. The Cathedral, founded in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 16th, has now been restored to its former beauty. It retains a Renaissance doorway and, inside, a 17th-century tomb and statues and paintings from the following century. The castle built by the Lombards, altered several times over the centuries, still had the form given to it in 1758 when the earthquake struck in 1980. Subsequent restoration and research have uncovered elements that document the thousand-year history of the building and the surrounding area, now displayed in a museum on the ground floor. (From the Touring Club Italiano Guida Verde 'Campania'.)