Pontelandolfo

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Pontelandolfo is an Italian town and commune of 28.91 square kilometers, in the Sannio Hills in the province of Benevento halfway between Naples and Campobasso, with around 3,000 inhabitants.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 External links

[edit] History

The area of today's Pontelandolfo was settled since very ancient times. The name of the village comes from the legendary Pontis Landulphi, or the Bridge of Landolpho, who died defending the bridge against the Romans while the villagers fled to safety, an event memorialized in the village's crest. The bridge is believed to have spanned the L'Alenta River.

Pontelandolfo is mostly remembered as the location, along with Casalduni, of a massacre of largely innocent population by the Piedmontese occupation troops in 1861.

Many villagers emigrated to the United States, with a large community settling in Waterbury, Connecticut, where they founded the Pontelandolfo Community Club.

[edit] Geography

Pontelandolfo is located on a mountainous area of Italy. The area that surrounds Pontelandolfo has a wide range of altitudes (400-1,017 meters), with the center of population situated at 525 meters.

There are three prominent mountains that surround Pontelandolfo. These are Mount Calvello, that has an altitude of 1017 meters, Toppo Mangialardo (917 m) and Mount Forgioso (850 m).

[edit] Economy

Much of the surrounding area of Pontelandolfo (14.91 km²) is used for agriculture thanks to the fertility of the ground, which was already well known by the ancient Greeks. The primary use of the land is for olive-tree orchards, pastures and for the culture of cereals.