Acerra
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Comune di Acerra | |
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Municipal coat of arms |
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Country | Italy |
Region | Campania |
Province | Naples (NA) |
Mayor | |
Elevation | 26 m |
Area | 54.08 km² |
Population | |
- Total (as of 2005) | 50,726 |
- Density | 821.02/km² |
Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
Coordinates | |
Gentilic | Acerrani |
Dialing code | 081 |
Postal code | 80011 |
Frazioni | Gaudello, Pezzalunga |
Patron | St. Cuomo and son |
- Day | May 29 |
Website: www.comune.acerra.na.it |
- This article is about the city Acerra. For the Ancient Roman sacrificial incense box, see Acerra (incense box).
Acerra (Latin: Acerrae) is a municipality of Campania, Italy, in the Province of Naples, about 20 km (9 mi) northeast of the provincial capital in Naples.
Contents |
[edit] History
Acerra is one of the most ancient cities of the region, probably founded by the Osci with the name of Akeru). It was the first Roman city that was granted the status of civitas sine suffragio (332 BCE).
Acerra was destroyed by Hannibal in 216 BCE, but was restored in 210 BCE.
In July 2005 a statue of the Virgin Mary in St Peter's Church was said to move and take on a pink colour. [1]
[edit] Acerra today
Acerra has been in the spotlight recently in regards to the growing problem of the disposal and treatment of industrial and urban waste in the area. Acerra, Nano, and Marigliano had been identified as the three points of the so-called "Triangle of Death" in which illegal waste management by criminal orgnizations ("ecomafia") have resulted in environmental conditions endangering the health of the region's people.
In October 2000, the Italian Parliament approved the findings of a commission which studied activities in Campania by the Camorra group, which had been profitting from illegal waste management activities.
The scientific journal The Lancet Oncology published in 2004 a study by the Italian researcher Alfredo Mazza, a physiologist at the Italian CNR (Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca): this study revealed the terrbile situation in the countryside of Campania and the negative impact on the people's health. He demonstrated that the deaths by cancer are much higher than average in that region with respect the European average.
[edit] Sources
- Senior, Kathryn, and Alfredo Mazza. "Italian 'Triangle of Death' Linked to Waste Crisis". The Lancet Journal, Vol. 5, No. 9. September 1, 2004. (Retrieved from Uonna Club web site, September 23, 2006).
- Bianchi, Fabrizio, Pietro Comba, Marcio Martuzzi, Raffaele Palombino, and Renato Pizzuti. "Reflection & Reaction: Italian 'Triangle of death'". The Lancet Oncology, Vol. 5. December 2004. (Retrieved from the EpiCentro web site, September 23, 2006).
[edit] External Links
- (Italian) Relazione della Commissione Parlamentare, an article about the Camorra in Campania (October 2000).
- (Italian) "The Death Triangle", published by the Italian newspaper Repubblica.it (2004)