San Severo
Encyclopedia
San Severo sanseˈvɛːro (ancient Castellum Sancti Severini, then San Severino and Sansevero; locally Sanzëvírë) is a city and comune
of 55,486 inhabitants of the province of Foggia
in the southern Italian
region of Apulia
.
It rises on the foot of the spur of Gargano
and is cathedral city since 1580. Citizens of San Severo are referred to as Sanseveresi
in the north, Rignano Garganico
and San Marco in Lamis
in the east, Foggia
and Lucera
in the south, and Torremaggiore
and San Paolo di Civitate
west.
The city sets in low-lying country, the centers of the town is about 90 m above sea level
. It’s soil geologically is Quaternary
(with sand and clay, fossil, of marine origin). Its territory follows an altitude decrease from the west (125 m) to the east (26 m), gradually changing from minor ripples in the western hills to a more regular plain in the east at the Candelaro basin.
Waterways in addition to the Candelaro river include the Triolo and Salsola torrents and Radicosa, Venola, Ferrante, Santa Maria and Potes channels
. The lack of water, in the summer, corresponds to a significant presence of brackish ground water, especially in the subsoil of the city.
Sparsely populated although studded with farmhouses, it is characterized primarily by ordered groves
, large vineyards of different types and vast arable land for wheat
.
, winters are relatively cold (snow is a rare phenomenon) and summers are very hot. High wind gusts are quite common and, sometimes quite strong, and moderate.
with the name of Castrum Drionis (Casteldrione), and remained pagan until 536. When Saint Laurence of Siponto , bishop of Siponto, converted the town to Christianity
he required the village to change the name after Governor Severus.
San Severo stands on the Daunia
and various Neolithic
settlements have been detected. In the early Middle Ages
the area was not inhabited or defined. Between the Lombards
and the Byzantine
ages the Benedictine
monastery at Cassino was established and with it the cult of the apostle of Saint Severinus of Noricum. San Severo was founded in the 11th century around a small church built by the Benedictine monks from Montecassino. Its development as trade town was rapid. In 1053 it was the scene of the historical victory by Robert Guiscard
over the papal troops under Pope Leo IX
(see Battle of Civitate
). In the eleventh century San Severo was the route of the Via Sacra Langobardorum, a primitive church arose dedicated to saint Severino, from which continued an influx of pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo
and movement of people and goods. The town was therefore called Castellum Sancti Severini (fortified town of San Severo).
The conurbation
developed rapidly, due to its favorable position for trade, and soon took on considerable importance, and was the seat of Venetian
, Florentine, Saracen
s and Jewish merchants. Subject to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro di Torremaggiore
(in 1116 the abbot gave the famous Adenulfo Libertatis Charta), in 1230 the city rebelled against Frederick II of Swabia who ceded it to the Knights Templar
.
and his wife Sancha, who in 1317 sold it to Count Peter Pippin, Lord of Vico
. He was never able to take possession of the new estate because of the citizens armed resistance and laid down their arms only when the king granted them the city. San Severo was then declared a royal city in perpetuity.
It became the capital of Giustizierato
(province) of Capitanata, under whose jurisdiction also included Molise
, the city was the seat of provincial officials and the court of the Royal Audience. After queen Joan I of Naples
stayed there, many Neapolitan
monarchs followed in her presence including Alfonso I of Aragon and Ferdinand I of Naples
. In the fifteenth century, the city also minted its own coins.
sold the city to the Duke of Termoli
, Ferdinand of Capua, but Mayor Tiberio Solis was able to redeem it by paying 42,000 ducats to the Emperor. By collecting contributions from private citizens, and especially with some bankers from Naples incurred the enormous debt of 32,000 ducats. The king then said that San Severo city would be perpetually self-directing and inalienable. According to tradition, in January 1536 Charles V would have the presence his same honor, ennobling twenty-four families, and establishing the towns oligarchic regime.
San Severo became the most populous city of Capitanata in the sixteenth century. The richness of commerce, cultural vitality and self-government made it one of the major centers of the south, due to the presence of a large Venetian warehouse. Directly connected to the Fortore river was an important link between the Venetians and the Kingdom of Naples
. Leandro Alberti
(Venice, 1550) writes of San Severo "this castle is very rich, noble, civilized and filled with people, and is so wealthy that he envied any other in this region."
The town also established ecclesiastical organizations, with four wealthy parish
es, several hospital
s, some fraternities
and nine religious institutes.
, which transferred the governor of the province and the court.
A bad relationship between the citizens and with the new feudal lords, who failed to inacerbire subjects with unscrupulous and tyrannical acts. Many families of the old Sanseveresi aristocracy immediately chose to leave the city and those who remained watched helplessly the era known as the Regime of Forty.
The feoffment
was the beginning of a decline, despite the promotion of the city to Episcopal seat
in 1580. On July 30 of 1627 a catastrophic earthquake, almost completely razed it to the ground and caused the deaths of eight hundred inhabitants and an unspecified number of foreigners. Reconstruction was slow, and hindered by the plague epidemic of 1656 and 1657 (there were about three thousand people killed). In the eighteenth century the city started to flourish, with a markedly Baroque
appearance.
On April 16, 1797 Ferdinand IV
visited San Severo and there he reviewed the Regina regiment. On April 25, Prince Francis I of the Two Sicilies
and Queen Maria Carolina, came there to visit and attended a solemn mass in the cathedral.
In February 1799, following a fierce reaction to the proclamation of the Jacobin
republic, French
troops, commanded by Generals Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
and La Foret plundered the city with terrible violence. The victims, between citizens and soldiers, were about four hundred and fifty.
Feudalism was abolished in 1806 and San Severo was the sixth largest city of the kingdom by number of inhabitants. It became the capital of one of the three districts and then sub-prefecture. In 1819 the ancient palace Decurionate inaugurated in the Teatro Real de Bourbon, first Italian districts and one of the first in the South. After the French decade, the city became a key stronghold of the Carbonari
, so that Giuseppe Mazzini
long dreamed of making the idea of San Severo, the starting point of the riots of 1820. In 1826 the monumental cemetery was opened. On May 18, 1847 Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
visited the city. The large public gardens, however, were dedicated in 1854, while in 1858 there was the dedication of the Ferdinandea Civic Library.
In 1860 San Severo contributed many young people to increase the ranks of the partisans
, when Francis II
was still on the throne, and was the among the first cities to proclaim allegiance to the Kingdom of Italy
and to hoist the tricolor Flag of Italy
. On October 21 the same year, the Sanseveresi voted unanimously for a united Italy. From 1862 to 1864, during the riots, the city was the seat of the 49th Regiment unit, who distinguished itself in the repression. After the unit built the railway station (1863), created the high school and technical schools (1864), they also started two major bands, the "White" in 1879 and "Red" in 1883, who obtained several international awards.
visited the city and inaugurated the magnificent school building "Principe di Piemonte". In 1929 the municipal sports field was inaugurated.
On October 27, 1931 the Minister of Communications Costanzo Ciano
, dedicated the Ferrovie del Gargano, linking the station of San Severo to a number of places in the Gargano
to Peschici
line, while December 9, 1937 opened the curtain of the new Municipal theater for the first time.
During the Second World War, on September 9, 1943 a group of Italian soldiers were involved in an episode of resistance, refusing to surrender to the Germans. By September 28 the Germans blew up the telephone exchange, the Casillo mill and several bridges, including that of the railway. During World War II San Severo was the home of a U.S. San Severo Airfield of the Fifteenth Air Force
. P-51 fighters of the 31st Fighter Brigade lead the armed escorts and support operations from San Severo on April 2, 1944 to March 3, 1945.
On March 23, 1950 San Severo workers rioted against police, raising barricades and storming the armory and the headquarters of Italian Social Movement
. The clashes caused one death and wounded forty civilians and soldiers and army tanks occupied the main streets of the city. In the following days, an armed insurrection against the powers of the state, people were arrested, acquitted and a year later released after the trial.
Pope John Paul II visited the city on May 25, 1987. In 1996, by special decree, the President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
confirmed for San Severo the title of city, historically acquired in 1580, the establishment of the Sanseveresi diocese. In 1999, at the Italian Chamber of Deputies
and the Senate, were presented two bills (respectively 6472 and 4370) for the establishment of the province of San Severo, comprising 22 municipalities in Tavoliere delle Puglie
north of Gargano
and Subappennino Dauno. Between October 31 and November 2 in 2002 a violent earthquake, known as the Molise earthquake has damaged many buildings in the old village and caused the closure of some historic churches.
, owner of the church around which the castellum was formed. The original Sanctus Severinus appeared in seven papers written between 1116 and 1266. Sanctus Severus, however, is first attested in a document dated 1134, also known only in dubious modern transcription.
In some documents, the header is read in Latin with the original spelling and the one derived in the text in the vernacular: this suggests that the change is due to ancient agiotoponimo syncope, withdrawal common in the transition from Latin to Italian: Sanctus Severinus> Sanseverinus> Sansevero, especially since no saint named Severus is revered in the city before the end of the seventeenth century. It is no coincidence, the official name - while acknowledging the uncommon variants San Severo and S. Severo - Sansevero was always in the univerbata form.
In 1931 the municipality, at the request of the Ministry of Interior, it officially adopted the spelling San Severo, having been taken from the dictionary compiled by the United Town’s Central Institute of Statistics (The situation is analogous to that of Sanremo
). The little or no resistance to the change has meant that the form of San Severo was accepted, so that today it is used almost universally. A curious exception is represented by Trenitalia
and the Autostrade, which represents the city with writing S. Severe.
The center, defined by the perimeter wall punctuated by seven gates, now completely dismantled, was deeply affected by the terrible earthquake of July 30, 1627. It retains its medieval labyrinthine road system. It is rich in Baroque monuments mainly as mansions (de Petris, del Sordo, de Lucretiis, Fraccacreta, Mascia, Recca, de Ambrosio, to Pozzo, Summantico etc.), the three Benedictine
monasteries (now the seat of the Court), of Celestine (town hall from 1813) and Franciscans (seat of the Municipal Library and Museum), and the churches of Santa Maria della Pieta and San Lorenzo (both national monuments) and St. Nicholas and the Trinity.
At the center is the Church of San Severino (also a National Monument), dedicated to the first and principal patron of the city and diocese, which preserves the external Romanesque
perspective, with a rose window and fine stone arch
way. The vast cathedral
, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, is the result of numerous rearrangements, in preserves, among other things, an invaluable font of the twelfth century and important eighteenth-century paintings (D'Elia, Spring, and Solimena). Other religious buildings of historic and artistic interest are the Church of St. John the Baptist (with paintings by Nicola Menzel) and the churches of Santa Maria del Carmine (great domes painted by Mario Borgoni), Saint Augustine (sanctuary), St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony Abbot, Holy Cross, St. Mary of Constantinople (Capuchin), San Sebastian, Santa Lucia, Santa Maria delle Grazie and San Matteo (or San Bernardino).
Interesting are also the Bishop's Palace, altered several times, and the seventeenth-century Palazzo del Seminario, significantly expanded in the nineteenth century. The imposing Teatro Comunale
, the largest theater building in Capitanata and among the largest of Puglia, which opened in 1937 and dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi
. The large public garden with century old avenues that converge on an artificial mound called Montagnella, has an elegant platform with bronze statues and a large round stage for concerts. Among the flower beds are placed a few small monuments, among them are the marble bust of Matteo Tondi, a work created in 1837 by Tito Angelini.
Noteworthy, too, are several large public buildings built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including the kindergarten "Matteo Trotta (1899), the Nursing Home "Concetta Masselli"(1902), the Hospital Teresa Masselli-Male "(1906) and the school building dedicated by Umberto of Savoy, the April 29, 1923.
While there are isolated buildings, the city, after the thirteenth major extension linked to the construction of new walls and the transformation of the old wall circuit in a major ring road, coincided with the town center - a maze of streets and lanes winding between large and sometimes huge blocks - roughly until the seventeenth century. After the earthquake of 1627 and the gradual removal of walls, the town expanded beyond the defensive wall. New districts were added to different neighborhoods (including Borgo Casale, the Village and the Bear quarter of the Jews). Thus were born the town districts of Catacubbi (or Grace), the neighborhood above the Rosary and the Porto Lucera, in San Antonio, Foggia Porta and Porta San Marco. To contain the damage caused by frequent earthquakes, buildings normally do not exceed two floors (and often were reduced to low ground floors and whitewashed gable roofs). The Patrician Palace, and major ecclesiastical architecture (main churches and monasteries), which are crowned by domes and steeples face more of a challenge during earthquakes.
Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the town continued to expand and the city constructed vast squares, like Piazza Cavallotti Coronation, and large tree-lined streets, such as the avenue of Corso Garibaldi and Viale Matteotti.
The high artistic and architectural heritage of the Sanseveresi does not end in the urban area: the commune is full of farms, with centuries-old often fortified rural architecture. Among the more prominent farms are the Torretta, del Sordo, Tabanaro, Scoppa, St. Matthew, Antonacci and Tower of Reeds.
, northern Puglia, Molise
and Campania
, the Sanseveresi dialect, overall is very close to Naples
. Its dialect is different than the Foggia
dialect or the extraneous dialect of Bari
. An example is saying "The dog bites the ragged". In the Foggia dialect it is made with “U chen muccichèjë 'u stracce” the San Severo dialect the phase is said “U chen mòccëchë 'u straccet”.
yield of 14 tonnes/ha throughout the 2,000 ha (5000 acre) production zone. The red and rose wines are made from 70-100% Montepulciano
with Sangiovese
permitted up to 30%. The white and spumante wines are produced 40-60% Bombino Bianco
, 40-60% Trebbiano
and up to 20% Verdeca.
San Severo is famous for its yearly festival held on the third Sunday of May. Called "La Festa del Soccorso" (The Festival of Help/Aid), it is held in honor of the patron saints of San Severo, "La Madonna del Soccorso" (The Madonna of Help/Aid), Saint Severinus Abbot, and Saint Severus Bishop
. During this festival, San Severo has plenty of nighttime and daytime fireworks in order to celebrate Our Lady. The daytime fireworks are the biggest attraction. Extremely loud firecracker chains (some which can be termed downright explosive) are placed along the city streets. In many cases they extend for kilometers. A common practice is for young males to run along the firecrackers as they explode down the street (an analogue tradition, called "Correfoc
", exist in Spain). These people are called 'fuejentes' (people who enjoy running through the fireworks) and are proud to keep to this traditional "race through the fireworks" alive. For this reason San Severo is called "the city of fireworks".
. At dawn on Good Friday
, a procession starts simultaneously from the three churches. From the Churches of the Pieta, carrying the eighteenth-century statue of Our Lady of Sorrows
(Confraternity of prayer and Death); from Trinity Church, carrying a wooden effigy of Christ
bound to the column (Arch-confraternity of the Rosary
), and the Church of St. Augustine, with the heavy cross of Simon of Cyrene
carried on shoulders by hooded penitents (Confraternity of Help), the three sacred processions converge in the ancient Piazza del Castello, where the poignant Incontro: where the statues proceed towards each other, but the embrace of the Mother and the Son is blocked by the Cross, which arises suddenly between them.
The patron saints are, respectively Severino Severo and celebrated, September 25 and Saturday before the fourth Sunday in October. January 8, moreover, is celebrated every year the solemn ceremony of the vote in San Severino by the Municipal Administration, during which it remembers the apparition of the patron saint.
, at dusk, they celebrate their colorful funeral, which ends with burning of those puppets, sometimes stuffed with firecrackers. The city does not seem to have had a real typical mask: the traditional outfit more widespread, however, requires that men wear flashy clothes.
, (or Festival of New Wine) which is held in the historic heart of the city for several days around November 11, with exhibition of local products, wine tasting and local cuisine and various cultural performances (concerts, exhibitions, folklore shows etc.).
Exhibitions of various kinds (archeology, painting, photography etc.) Are more or less regularly staged at the Museum, the Diocesan Museum and the Gallery of Modern Art in Palazzo San Lorenzo.
(in collaboration with the consortium Teatro Pubblico Pugliese) and evenings at the ballet.
Concerts of sacred music are held regularly in the churches of the historic center. The iconic Cantina D'Araprì is a place of offering quality music, with jazz
.
has active courses in Nursing, Business, and Viticulture and Enology Science and technology of winemaking. Under construction at the former "Pascoli" school building the citadel that will host Economics courses, currently held temporarily in the Istituto commercial Fraccacreta Angel,” while those of Agriculture will be held at the Michele di Sangro Agricultural Institute.”
s and eight high school
s (Gymnasium High School, Liceo Scientifico, Istituto Tecnico Agrario, Commercial Technical Institute, Institute Industrial Technical Professional Institute, Institute for Teaching and Technical Institute for Surveyors).
Famous are also the Peranzana (Dauno) olives, receiving the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The centuries-old agricultural tradition, the town is evidenced, among other things, the name of the method of cultivation of olive trees. The Vase Sanseveresi is the method of pruning the foliage of trees like inverted cones, with focus on horizontal rather than height.
with: Bourg-en-Bresse
, France
Pamplona
, Spain
. Its colors are yellow and black, but for fans of the players are simply black. Play in Lega A2 in 2010/2011. Another amateur clubs, is also the San Severo Marvin School.
, and Pol Sanseveresi, founded in 2008.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of 55,486 inhabitants of the province of Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
in the southern Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region of Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
.
It rises on the foot of the spur of Gargano
Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
and is cathedral city since 1580. Citizens of San Severo are referred to as Sanseveresi
Territory
San Severo adjoins the communes ApricenaApricena
Apricena is an Apulian town in the province of Foggia. It is 42 km away from its provincial capital, Foggia, Italy, from Foggia.This territory is mainly plain, cultivated with olives, cereals and wine...
in the north, Rignano Garganico
Rignano Garganico
Rignano Garganico is a town and comune of the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southern Italy.-Geography:Apricena, Foggia, San Marco in Lamis, San Severo and San Giovanni Rotondo are neighbouring towns....
and San Marco in Lamis
San Marco in Lamis
San Marco in Lamis is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It is located in the Gargano massif area.Apart from some tourism connected to pilgrimages at the local Catholic sanctuary of St...
in the east, Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
and Lucera
Lucera
Lucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southern Italy.-Ancient era and early Middle Ages :Lucera is an ancient city founded in Daunia, the centre of Dauni territory . Archeological excavations show the presence of a bronze age village inside the city boundaries...
in the south, and Torremaggiore
Torremaggiore
Torremaggiore is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.It lies on a hill, 169 m over the sea, and is famous for production of wine and olives.-History:...
and San Paolo di Civitate
San Paolo di Civitate
San Paolo di Civitate is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.-History:San Paolo was founded in the mid-15th century, mostly as a colony of Albanians...
west.
The city sets in low-lying country, the centers of the town is about 90 m above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. It’s soil geologically is Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
(with sand and clay, fossil, of marine origin). Its territory follows an altitude decrease from the west (125 m) to the east (26 m), gradually changing from minor ripples in the western hills to a more regular plain in the east at the Candelaro basin.
Waterways in addition to the Candelaro river include the Triolo and Salsola torrents and Radicosa, Venola, Ferrante, Santa Maria and Potes channels
Channel (geography)
In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...
. The lack of water, in the summer, corresponds to a significant presence of brackish ground water, especially in the subsoil of the city.
Sparsely populated although studded with farmhouses, it is characterized primarily by ordered groves
Grove (nature)
A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts...
, large vineyards of different types and vast arable land for wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
.
Climate
The climate is MediterraneanMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, winters are relatively cold (snow is a rare phenomenon) and summers are very hot. High wind gusts are quite common and, sometimes quite strong, and moderate.
- Climate classificationClimate classificationClimate classification systems are ways of classifying the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome category, as climate is a major influence on biological life in a region...
: Zone D, GR-G 1494.
Origins
According to legend the city was founded by the Greek DiomedesDiomedes
Diomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, known for his participation in the Trojan War.He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus. In Homer's Iliad Diomedes is regarded alongside Ajax as one of the best warriors of all...
with the name of Castrum Drionis (Casteldrione), and remained pagan until 536. When Saint Laurence of Siponto , bishop of Siponto, converted the town to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
he required the village to change the name after Governor Severus.
San Severo stands on the Daunia
Daunia
250px|thumb|Example of Daunian ceramics.The Daunia is a historical and geographical region in Apulia, southern Italy, mostly coincident with modern Province of Foggia...
and various Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlements have been detected. In the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
the area was not inhabited or defined. Between the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
and the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
ages the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery at Cassino was established and with it the cult of the apostle of Saint Severinus of Noricum. San Severo was founded in the 11th century around a small church built by the Benedictine monks from Montecassino. Its development as trade town was rapid. In 1053 it was the scene of the historical victory by Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
over the papal troops under Pope Leo IX
Pope Leo IX
Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He was a German aristocrat and as well as being Pope was a powerful secular ruler of central Italy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19...
(see Battle of Civitate
Battle of Civitate
The Battle of Civitate was fought on 18 June 1053 in Southern Italy, between the Normans, led by the Count of Apulia Humphrey of Hauteville, and a Swabian-Italian-Lombard army, organised by Pope Leo IX and led on the battlefield by Gerard, Duke of Lorraine, and Rudolf, Prince of Benevento...
). In the eleventh century San Severo was the route of the Via Sacra Langobardorum, a primitive church arose dedicated to saint Severino, from which continued an influx of pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo
Monte Sant'Angelo
Monte Sant'Angelo is a town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, about 15 km north of Manfredonia by road and 4 km west of Mattinata, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano.-History:...
and movement of people and goods. The town was therefore called Castellum Sancti Severini (fortified town of San Severo).
The conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
developed rapidly, due to its favorable position for trade, and soon took on considerable importance, and was the seat of Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, Florentine, Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s and Jewish merchants. Subject to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro di Torremaggiore
Torremaggiore
Torremaggiore is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.It lies on a hill, 169 m over the sea, and is famous for production of wine and olives.-History:...
(in 1116 the abbot gave the famous Adenulfo Libertatis Charta), in 1230 the city rebelled against Frederick II of Swabia who ceded it to the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
.
Medieval
Around 1312, after the suppression of the Templars, the city, fortified with a wall again, and was donated to Robert d’AnjouRobert of Naples
Robert of Anjou , known as Robert the Wise was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the third but eldest surviving son of King Charles II of Naples the Lame and Maria of Hungary...
and his wife Sancha, who in 1317 sold it to Count Peter Pippin, Lord of Vico
Vico
Vico or de Vico may refer to:* Francesco de Vico, Italian astronomer* Francesco Vico, Baroque painter from Milan* Giambattista Vico, Italian philosopher, historian, and jurist* Prefetti di Vico, Italian noble family...
. He was never able to take possession of the new estate because of the citizens armed resistance and laid down their arms only when the king granted them the city. San Severo was then declared a royal city in perpetuity.
It became the capital of Giustizierato
Giustizierato
A giustizierato , refers to a type of country subdivision that was used by several former Italian states in the medieval period.-History:...
(province) of Capitanata, under whose jurisdiction also included Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
, the city was the seat of provincial officials and the court of the Royal Audience. After queen Joan I of Naples
Joan I of Naples
Joan I , born Joanna of Anjou, was Queen of Naples from 1343 until her death. She was also Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Queen consort of Majorca and titular Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily 1343–82, and Princess of Achaea 1373/5–81....
stayed there, many Neapolitan
Neapolitan
Neapolitan may refer to:* Neapolitan, of or pertaining to the city of Naples, Italy and sometimes its wider Duchy or Province of Naples** Previously a nationality, during the time of the Kingdom of Naples or the Neapolitan Republics* Neapolitan cuisine...
monarchs followed in her presence including Alfonso I of Aragon and Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
. In the fifteenth century, the city also minted its own coins.
The Renaissance to Principality
In 1521 Charles VCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
sold the city to the Duke of Termoli
Termoli
Termoli is a town and comune on the Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, and it is a local resort town known for its beaches and old fortifications...
, Ferdinand of Capua, but Mayor Tiberio Solis was able to redeem it by paying 42,000 ducats to the Emperor. By collecting contributions from private citizens, and especially with some bankers from Naples incurred the enormous debt of 32,000 ducats. The king then said that San Severo city would be perpetually self-directing and inalienable. According to tradition, in January 1536 Charles V would have the presence his same honor, ennobling twenty-four families, and establishing the towns oligarchic regime.
San Severo became the most populous city of Capitanata in the sixteenth century. The richness of commerce, cultural vitality and self-government made it one of the major centers of the south, due to the presence of a large Venetian warehouse. Directly connected to the Fortore river was an important link between the Venetians and the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
. Leandro Alberti
Leandro Alberti
Leandro Alberti was an Italian Dominican historian.Alberti was born and died at Bologna. In his early youth he attracted the attention of the Bolognese rhetorician, Giovanni Garzo, who volunteered to act as his tutor...
(Venice, 1550) writes of San Severo "this castle is very rich, noble, civilized and filled with people, and is so wealthy that he envied any other in this region."
The town also established ecclesiastical organizations, with four wealthy parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, several hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, some fraternities
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
and nine religious institutes.
The Age of the Principality
In 1579, at the height of its prestige but suffocated in debt, the city was sold to Duke Gian Francesco di Sangro, who won for his heirs the title of Prince of Sansevero. Consequently, it lost its rank as capital, which passed to LuceraLucera
Lucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southern Italy.-Ancient era and early Middle Ages :Lucera is an ancient city founded in Daunia, the centre of Dauni territory . Archeological excavations show the presence of a bronze age village inside the city boundaries...
, which transferred the governor of the province and the court.
A bad relationship between the citizens and with the new feudal lords, who failed to inacerbire subjects with unscrupulous and tyrannical acts. Many families of the old Sanseveresi aristocracy immediately chose to leave the city and those who remained watched helplessly the era known as the Regime of Forty.
The feoffment
Feoffment
Feoffment, in English law was a transfer of property that gave the new owner the right to sell the land as well as the right to pass it on to his heirs. It was total relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership in land from one individual to another. It was the granting of a fee simple...
was the beginning of a decline, despite the promotion of the city to Episcopal seat
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Severo
The Italian Catholic diocese of San Severo is in Apulia. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino.-History:The diocese of San Severo was established in 1580. The episcopal see is only the continuation of that of the diocese of Civitate, which in turn succeeded the ancient city of Teanum...
in 1580. On July 30 of 1627 a catastrophic earthquake, almost completely razed it to the ground and caused the deaths of eight hundred inhabitants and an unspecified number of foreigners. Reconstruction was slow, and hindered by the plague epidemic of 1656 and 1657 (there were about three thousand people killed). In the eighteenth century the city started to flourish, with a markedly Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
appearance.
On April 16, 1797 Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand IV is the name of:*Ferdinand IV of Castile , king of Castile and León from 1295*Ferdinand IV of Germany...
visited San Severo and there he reviewed the Regina regiment. On April 25, Prince Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
-Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic....
and Queen Maria Carolina, came there to visit and attended a solemn mass in the cathedral.
In February 1799, following a fierce reaction to the proclamation of the Jacobin
Jacobin
Jacobin may refer to:* Jacobin , a member of the Jacobin club, or political radical, generally* The Jacobin Club, a political club during the French Revolution* Jacobin , an American leftist political magazine....
republic, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
troops, commanded by Generals Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.-Revolution:...
and La Foret plundered the city with terrible violence. The victims, between citizens and soldiers, were about four hundred and fifty.
Nineteenth Century
Carbonari
The Carbonari were groups of secret revolutionary societies founded in early 19th-century Italy. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in Spain, France, Portugal and possibly Russia. Although their goals often had a patriotic and liberal focus, they lacked a...
, so that Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
long dreamed of making the idea of San Severo, the starting point of the riots of 1820. In 1826 the monumental cemetery was opened. On May 18, 1847 Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand II was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death.-Family:Ferdinand was born in Palermo, the son of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife and first cousin Maria Isabella of Spain.His paternal grandparents were King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Queen Marie...
visited the city. The large public gardens, however, were dedicated in 1854, while in 1858 there was the dedication of the Ferdinandea Civic Library.
In 1860 San Severo contributed many young people to increase the ranks of the partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
, when Francis II
Francis II
Francis II may refer to:* Francis II, Duke of Brittany * Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua * Francis II of France * Francis II, Duke of Lorraine * Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena...
was still on the throne, and was the among the first cities to proclaim allegiance to the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
and to hoist the tricolor Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy
The flag of Italy is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the hoist side...
. On October 21 the same year, the Sanseveresi voted unanimously for a united Italy. From 1862 to 1864, during the riots, the city was the seat of the 49th Regiment unit, who distinguished itself in the repression. After the unit built the railway station (1863), created the high school and technical schools (1864), they also started two major bands, the "White" in 1879 and "Red" in 1883, who obtained several international awards.
Modern
On April 29, 1923 the Crown Prince Umberto I of ItalyUmberto I of Italy
Umberto I or Humbert I , nicknamed the Good , was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan...
visited the city and inaugurated the magnificent school building "Principe di Piemonte". In 1929 the municipal sports field was inaugurated.
On October 27, 1931 the Minister of Communications Costanzo Ciano
Costanzo Ciano
Costanzo Ciano, 1st Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was an Italian naval commander and politician. He was the father of Galeazzo Ciano....
, dedicated the Ferrovie del Gargano, linking the station of San Severo to a number of places in the Gargano
Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
to Peschici
Peschici
Peschici is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.Famous seaside resorts, its territory belongs to the Italian National Park of Gargano and to the Comunità Montana del Gargano.- Geography :...
line, while December 9, 1937 opened the curtain of the new Municipal theater for the first time.
During the Second World War, on September 9, 1943 a group of Italian soldiers were involved in an episode of resistance, refusing to surrender to the Germans. By September 28 the Germans blew up the telephone exchange, the Casillo mill and several bridges, including that of the railway. During World War II San Severo was the home of a U.S. San Severo Airfield of the Fifteenth Air Force
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
. P-51 fighters of the 31st Fighter Brigade lead the armed escorts and support operations from San Severo on April 2, 1944 to March 3, 1945.
On March 23, 1950 San Severo workers rioted against police, raising barricades and storming the armory and the headquarters of Italian Social Movement
Italian Social Movement
The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...
. The clashes caused one death and wounded forty civilians and soldiers and army tanks occupied the main streets of the city. In the following days, an armed insurrection against the powers of the state, people were arrested, acquitted and a year later released after the trial.
Pope John Paul II visited the city on May 25, 1987. In 1996, by special decree, the President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro , Italian politician and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life...
confirmed for San Severo the title of city, historically acquired in 1580, the establishment of the Sanseveresi diocese. In 1999, at the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
and the Senate, were presented two bills (respectively 6472 and 4370) for the establishment of the province of San Severo, comprising 22 municipalities in Tavoliere delle Puglie
Tavoliere delle Puglie
thumb|300px|The Tavoliere seen from the [[Gargano]] promontory.The Tavoliere delle Puglie is a plain in northern Apulia, southern Italy, occupying nearly a half of the Capitanata traditional region. It covers a surface of c...
north of Gargano
Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
and Subappennino Dauno. Between October 31 and November 2 in 2002 a violent earthquake, known as the Molise earthquake has damaged many buildings in the old village and caused the closure of some historic churches.
Etymology
The city derives its name from patron saint San SeverinoSan Severino
-Places in Italy:*Mercato San Severino, a commune of the Province of Salerno*San Severino Lucano, a commune of the Province of Potenza*San Severino Marche, a commune in the Province of Macerata*San Severino, an hamlet of Centola in the Province of Salerno...
, owner of the church around which the castellum was formed. The original Sanctus Severinus appeared in seven papers written between 1116 and 1266. Sanctus Severus, however, is first attested in a document dated 1134, also known only in dubious modern transcription.
In some documents, the header is read in Latin with the original spelling and the one derived in the text in the vernacular: this suggests that the change is due to ancient agiotoponimo syncope, withdrawal common in the transition from Latin to Italian: Sanctus Severinus> Sanseverinus> Sansevero, especially since no saint named Severus is revered in the city before the end of the seventeenth century. It is no coincidence, the official name - while acknowledging the uncommon variants San Severo and S. Severo - Sansevero was always in the univerbata form.
In 1931 the municipality, at the request of the Ministry of Interior, it officially adopted the spelling San Severo, having been taken from the dictionary compiled by the United Town’s Central Institute of Statistics (The situation is analogous to that of Sanremo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
). The little or no resistance to the change has meant that the form of San Severo was accepted, so that today it is used almost universally. A curious exception is represented by Trenitalia
Trenitalia
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport.-Passenger transport:...
and the Autostrade, which represents the city with writing S. Severe.
Art, monuments and urban design
San Severo retains a remarkable historical center, dotted with significant monuments, which on February 2, 2006 it received recognition as an art city.The center, defined by the perimeter wall punctuated by seven gates, now completely dismantled, was deeply affected by the terrible earthquake of July 30, 1627. It retains its medieval labyrinthine road system. It is rich in Baroque monuments mainly as mansions (de Petris, del Sordo, de Lucretiis, Fraccacreta, Mascia, Recca, de Ambrosio, to Pozzo, Summantico etc.), the three Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monasteries (now the seat of the Court), of Celestine (town hall from 1813) and Franciscans (seat of the Municipal Library and Museum), and the churches of Santa Maria della Pieta and San Lorenzo (both national monuments) and St. Nicholas and the Trinity.
At the center is the Church of San Severino (also a National Monument), dedicated to the first and principal patron of the city and diocese, which preserves the external Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
perspective, with a rose window and fine stone arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
way. The vast cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, is the result of numerous rearrangements, in preserves, among other things, an invaluable font of the twelfth century and important eighteenth-century paintings (D'Elia, Spring, and Solimena). Other religious buildings of historic and artistic interest are the Church of St. John the Baptist (with paintings by Nicola Menzel) and the churches of Santa Maria del Carmine (great domes painted by Mario Borgoni), Saint Augustine (sanctuary), St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony Abbot, Holy Cross, St. Mary of Constantinople (Capuchin), San Sebastian, Santa Lucia, Santa Maria delle Grazie and San Matteo (or San Bernardino).
Teatro Comunale
The name Teatro comunale is an Italian term for a theater house, or opera house. Many towns in Italy have a Teatro Comunale.Notable opera houses known as Teatro Comunale:* Teatro Comunale Alighieri, Ravenna...
, the largest theater building in Capitanata and among the largest of Puglia, which opened in 1937 and dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
. The large public garden with century old avenues that converge on an artificial mound called Montagnella, has an elegant platform with bronze statues and a large round stage for concerts. Among the flower beds are placed a few small monuments, among them are the marble bust of Matteo Tondi, a work created in 1837 by Tito Angelini.
Noteworthy, too, are several large public buildings built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including the kindergarten "Matteo Trotta (1899), the Nursing Home "Concetta Masselli"(1902), the Hospital Teresa Masselli-Male "(1906) and the school building dedicated by Umberto of Savoy, the April 29, 1923.
While there are isolated buildings, the city, after the thirteenth major extension linked to the construction of new walls and the transformation of the old wall circuit in a major ring road, coincided with the town center - a maze of streets and lanes winding between large and sometimes huge blocks - roughly until the seventeenth century. After the earthquake of 1627 and the gradual removal of walls, the town expanded beyond the defensive wall. New districts were added to different neighborhoods (including Borgo Casale, the Village and the Bear quarter of the Jews). Thus were born the town districts of Catacubbi (or Grace), the neighborhood above the Rosary and the Porto Lucera, in San Antonio, Foggia Porta and Porta San Marco. To contain the damage caused by frequent earthquakes, buildings normally do not exceed two floors (and often were reduced to low ground floors and whitewashed gable roofs). The Patrician Palace, and major ecclesiastical architecture (main churches and monasteries), which are crowned by domes and steeples face more of a challenge during earthquakes.
Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the town continued to expand and the city constructed vast squares, like Piazza Cavallotti Coronation, and large tree-lined streets, such as the avenue of Corso Garibaldi and Viale Matteotti.
The high artistic and architectural heritage of the Sanseveresi does not end in the urban area: the commune is full of farms, with centuries-old often fortified rural architecture. Among the more prominent farms are the Torretta, del Sordo, Tabanaro, Scoppa, St. Matthew, Antonacci and Tower of Reeds.
Sanseveresi Dialect
As the geographical position of the city, which allows direct contact for centuries with dialects of GarganoGargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
, northern Puglia, Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
and Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, the Sanseveresi dialect, overall is very close to Naples
Neapolitan language
Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
. Its dialect is different than the Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
dialect or the extraneous dialect of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
. An example is saying "The dog bites the ragged". In the Foggia dialect it is made with “U chen muccichèjë 'u stracce” the San Severo dialect the phase is said “U chen mòccëchë 'u straccet”.
San Severo DOC
The Italian wine DOC around San Severo produces red, white and rose wines as well as the occasional sparkling spumante. Grapes are limited to a harvestHarvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...
yield of 14 tonnes/ha throughout the 2,000 ha (5000 acre) production zone. The red and rose wines are made from 70-100% Montepulciano
Montepulciano (grape)
Montepulciano is a red Italian wine grape variety that is most noted for being the primary grape behind the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita wine Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane and the Denominazione di origine controllata wines of Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno.It should...
with Sangiovese
Sangiovese
Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove"...
permitted up to 30%. The white and spumante wines are produced 40-60% Bombino Bianco
Bombino Bianco
Bombino Bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety planted primarily along Italy's Adriatic coast line, most notably in Apulia. The vine is prone to high yields.-Synonyms:...
, 40-60% Trebbiano
Trebbiano
Trebbiano is the second most widely planted grape in the world. It gives good yields, but makes undistinguished wine at best. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Its high acidity makes it important in Cognac production...
and up to 20% Verdeca.
The patronal feast
Severus of Naples
Saint Severus was a bishop of Naples during the 4th and 5th centuries. He is considered the twelfth bishop of Naples, succeeding Maximus. His episcopate ran from February 363 to April 29, 409, the traditional date of his death...
. During this festival, San Severo has plenty of nighttime and daytime fireworks in order to celebrate Our Lady. The daytime fireworks are the biggest attraction. Extremely loud firecracker chains (some which can be termed downright explosive) are placed along the city streets. In many cases they extend for kilometers. A common practice is for young males to run along the firecrackers as they explode down the street (an analogue tradition, called "Correfoc
Correfoc
Correfocs ; literally in English "fire-runs") are among the most striking features present in Catalan festivals. In the correfoc, a group of individuals will dress as devils and light fireworks. While dancing to the drums of a traditional gralla, they will set off their fireworks among crowds of...
", exist in Spain). These people are called 'fuejentes' (people who enjoy running through the fireworks) and are proud to keep to this traditional "race through the fireworks" alive. For this reason San Severo is called "the city of fireworks".
The rituals for Good Friday
Among the many traditions are the rites of the Holy WeekHoly Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
. At dawn on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, a procession starts simultaneously from the three churches. From the Churches of the Pieta, carrying the eighteenth-century statue of Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...
(Confraternity of prayer and Death); from Trinity Church, carrying a wooden effigy of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
bound to the column (Arch-confraternity of the Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
), and the Church of St. Augustine, with the heavy cross of Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels...
carried on shoulders by hooded penitents (Confraternity of Help), the three sacred processions converge in the ancient Piazza del Castello, where the poignant Incontro: where the statues proceed towards each other, but the embrace of the Mother and the Son is blocked by the Cross, which arises suddenly between them.
Other religious holidays
Other festivals, with processions and include the Lady of Mount Caramel (July 16), San Rocco (August 16) and the Madonna del Rosario (the third Sunday in October), as well as the recurrence of Concetta namely the Immaculate Conception (December 8). There are also the feasts of St. Lucy (December 13) and Saint Anthony Abbot (January 17), the latter with the historic blessing of the animals.The patron saints are, respectively Severino Severo and celebrated, September 25 and Saturday before the fourth Sunday in October. January 8, moreover, is celebrated every year the solemn ceremony of the vote in San Severino by the Municipal Administration, during which it remembers the apparition of the patron saint.
Carnival
In the period of carnival it is customary to prepare awkward puppets that are hung, comically sitting on small chairs by the doors of houses. On Shrove TuesdayShrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
, at dusk, they celebrate their colorful funeral, which ends with burning of those puppets, sometimes stuffed with firecrackers. The city does not seem to have had a real typical mask: the traditional outfit more widespread, however, requires that men wear flashy clothes.
The wine festival
In recent years the old Grape Festival, celebrates one of the main products of the Sanseveresi, during the Feast of St. MartinSt. Martin's Day
St. Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martin le Miséricordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding is completed. Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers...
, (or Festival of New Wine) which is held in the historic heart of the city for several days around November 11, with exhibition of local products, wine tasting and local cuisine and various cultural performances (concerts, exhibitions, folklore shows etc.).
Museums, libraries and archives
The preservation and promotion of artistic heritage, the city’s books and periodicals are raison d'être of a number of important public and private institutions that promote the cultural development of San Severo and its surroundings.- Museum of the Tavoliere (MAT) is set in an eighteenth-century Franciscan monastery, also known as Palazzo San Francesco. It retains a considerable archaeological heritage, with exhibits from the PaleolithicPaleolithicThe Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
to the Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and a gallery with works of the modern age. - Pinacoteca "Luigi Schingo" is a section of MAT, with headquarters in Palazzo San Francesco; collects some works of Sanseveresi Louis Schingo.
- Diocesan Museum: contains sacred art, housed in the basement of the Palazzo del Seminario, with silver, vestments and works of different eras. Among the most significant artifacts stand out a collection of medieval collection plates embossed with copper and some medieval and Renaissance polychrome wooden statues.
- Permanent display of carriages and finishes of the eighteenth century was built in 2007 on Viale Matteotti. It is part of the cultural initiatives promoted by the banking group BancApulia.
- Community Library "Alexander minutia" now located temporarily in the Palazzo San Francesco. The historic institution, originally called Ferdinandea boasts a heritage of over ninety thousand volumes of books and a prestigious background ancient writings as well as many rare incunabula.
- "Father Benedetto Nardella" of Friars Minor CapuchinOrder of Friars Minor CapuchinThe Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
Library: housed in the seventeenth-century convent of Santa Maria of Constantinople, collects twenty thousand volumes on mysticism, spirituality, St. Pio of Pietrelcina and patriotic history. [23] - "Happy Chir" economic-legal Library: made from BancApulia Gramsci, makes available to students and scholars over fifty thousand texts and journals. [24]
- Historical Archives: The Municipal Library, is an impressive collection of documents on civil and administrative life of the city in modern and contemporary art.
- Archival diocesan Trotta: is housed in the Palace, near the Cathedral, and boasts a rich documentary heritage, conservation, a significant number of parchments, episcopal archives, and above The Music Fund of the Benedictine monastery of San Lorenzo, includes, autographs of important Italian composers of the eighteenth century.
Exhibitions of various kinds (archeology, painting, photography etc.) Are more or less regularly staged at the Museum, the Diocesan Museum and the Gallery of Modern Art in Palazzo San Lorenzo.
Theater and music
The city is home to three public theaters: the Decurionate (1750 ca.), the Real Bourbon (1819), the Teatro Verdi (by Cesare Bazzani, 1937). Throughout each year, alongside a full season of concerts curated by the Friends of Music, to set up Verdi operas, a series of shows of proseProse
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
(in collaboration with the consortium Teatro Pubblico Pugliese) and evenings at the ballet.
Concerts of sacred music are held regularly in the churches of the historic center. The iconic Cantina D'Araprì is a place of offering quality music, with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
University
San Severo's University of FoggiaUniversity of Foggia
The University of Foggia , is a university located in Foggia, Italy. It was founded in 1999 and is organized in 6 Faculties. It has branch centers in San Severo, San Giovanni Rotondo, Lucera, Cerignola and Manfredonia....
has active courses in Nursing, Business, and Viticulture and Enology Science and technology of winemaking. Under construction at the former "Pascoli" school building the citadel that will host Economics courses, currently held temporarily in the Istituto commercial Fraccacreta Angel,” while those of Agriculture will be held at the Michele di Sangro Agricultural Institute.”
Public schools
There are five primary schools, four middle schoolMiddle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s and eight high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s (Gymnasium High School, Liceo Scientifico, Istituto Tecnico Agrario, Commercial Technical Institute, Institute Industrial Technical Professional Institute, Institute for Teaching and Technical Institute for Surveyors).
Media
The city has several different local newspapers (Il Corriere di San Severo, San Severo Il Giornale, La Gazzetta di San Severo and the bell tower), and the broadcaster Tele Radio San Severo, produces Sansevero.tv and radio.Letters and Science
- Joseph Annese, writer and poet (1932–1979)
- Mario CarliMario CarliMario Carli was an Italian poet, novelist, essayist, diplomat, and journalist.-Life:Carli was born in San Severo, Apulia, to Florentine father and Apulian mother....
, writer and poet (1888–1935) - Nino Casiglio, writer (1921–1995)
- Joseph Rispoli Checchia, geologist and paleontologist (1877–1947)
- Augustine Colombrita, zoologist (1500 ca)
- Gaetano de Lucretiis, scientist (1745–1817)
- Angelo Fraccacreta, economist (1882–1951)
- Matthew Fraccacreta, historian (1772–1857)
- Umberto Fraccacreta, poet (1892–1947)
- Alessandro Minuziano, publisher and printer (1450 ca.- 1532)
- Vincenzo Pirro, historical (the 1938 - 2009)
- Gualberto Titta, writer and actor (1906–1999)
- Matteo Tondi, mineralogist (1762–1835)
- Michele Zannotti, mathematician (1803–1884)
Artists
- Matteo Germano, sculptor (1937–2004)
- Andrea PazienzaAndrea PazienzaAndrea Pazienza , was an Italian comics artist and painter.- Life :Pazienza was born in San Benedetto del Tronto, province of Ascoli Piceno , in 1956....
, cartoonist and painter (1956–1988) - Salvatore Postiglione, sculptor (1905–1996)
- Luigi Schingo, painter and sculptor (1891–1976)
- Gianluigi Tosto, actor (1964)
Politicians
- Louis Annex, trade unionist, senator and founding fathers (1896–1958)
- Umberto Delle Fave, deputy and senator, minister, president of RAI (1912–1986)
- Mario Fasino, former president of the Sicilian Region (1920)
- Raffaele Recca, a lawyer and founding fathers (1900–1954)
Musicians and singers
- Franco Cassano, musician (1922)
- King FerdinandKing FerdinandKing Ferdinand may refer to:*Ferdinand I of Aragon *Ferdinand II of Aragon, also Ferdinand V of Castile and Leon , Ferdinand the Catholic, King of Aragon, Sicily, and Navarre, first king of united Spain...
, composer and band director (1839–1887) - Rosanna Fratello, pop singer (1950)
- Dante Morlino, composer (1909th - 1978th)
- Luca Sardella, pop singer and television presenter (1956)
- Matteo Sassano, opera singer (1667–1737)
Sports
- Luigi CastiglioneLuigi CastiglioneLuigi "Gino" Castiglioni is a former professional boxer from Italy, who won the silver medal at the 1991 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the final of the light flyweight he was defeated by Bulgaria's Ivailo Marinov. He turned professional in 1993, and retired in...
, boxer (1967) - Carmen Fiano, ultramarathoner (1968)
- Walter MagnificoWalter MagnificoWalter Magnifico is a former Italian basketball player. A 2.09 m Power Forward/Center, he spent most of his career in Scavolini Pesaro, thus becoming one of the club's emblems. While in Pesaro he led his team to a Saporta Cup in 1983, two Italian championship titles in 1988 and 1990 as well as two...
, Basketball player (1961) - Michele PazienzaMichele PazienzaMichele Pazienza is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, as a defensive midfielder.Pazienza started his career with Foggia in 2000. Three years later he was transferred to Udinese, but played on loan with Fiorentina for the 2006–07 season. Fiorentina purchased him in June 2007...
, Soccer Player (1982) - Alessandro PotenzaAlessandro PotenzaAlessandro Potenza is an Italian football defender, who currently plays for Calcio Catania of the Italian Serie A.-FC Internazionale Milano:...
, Basketball Player (1984)
Bishops
- Anthony, Bishop of LuceraLuceraLucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southern Italy.-Ancient era and early Middle Ages :Lucera is an ancient city founded in Daunia, the centre of Dauni territory . Archeological excavations show the presence of a bronze age village inside the city boundaries...
in the fourteenth century - Sparano, bishop of VenafroVenafroVenafro is a comune in the province of Isernia, region of Molise, Italy. It has a population of around 12,000, having expanded quickly in the post-war period.-Geography:...
from 1306 to 1326 - Giacomo Bruno, Bishop of Dragonara in the sixteenth century
- Germanico Malaspina, nuncioNuncioNuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
and bishop of San Severo from 1583 to 1603. - Francesco Antonio Sacchetti, Bishop of San Severo in 1635, of TroyTroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
from 1650 - Francesco Antonio Giannone, bishop of Boiano from 1685 to 1707
- Carlo de Ambrosio, bishop of LarinoLarinoLarino is a town and comune of approximately 8,200 inhabitants in Molise, province of Campobasso, southern Italy. It is located in the fertile valley of the Biferno River....
from 1775 to 1785
Agriculture and typical products
San Severo is at the forefront in the world for the production and marketing of wine, but is also producing huge quantities quality grain, grapes and olives for. Large agricultural resources have generated a lively system of small and medium-sized industrial and processing of products grown, exported and international markets. The Sanseveresi wine was the first, in Puglia, in obtaining the designation of origin (1968): White San Severo, San Severo sparkling white, red or rosé San Severo.Famous are also the Peranzana (Dauno) olives, receiving the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The centuries-old agricultural tradition, the town is evidenced, among other things, the name of the method of cultivation of olive trees. The Vase Sanseveresi is the method of pruning the foliage of trees like inverted cones, with focus on horizontal rather than height.
Twin Cities
San Severo is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Sports
San Severo is home to several different sports teams namely basketball, soccer, and volleyball.Basketball
There are two Sanseveresi basketball teams currently active and playing on the parquet floor of Palasport "Falcone e Borsellino" (4000 seats). The Basketball Association, founded in 1966, boasts an important players of the past, for example the pivot Walter MagnificoWalter Magnifico
Walter Magnifico is a former Italian basketball player. A 2.09 m Power Forward/Center, he spent most of his career in Scavolini Pesaro, thus becoming one of the club's emblems. While in Pesaro he led his team to a Saporta Cup in 1983, two Italian championship titles in 1988 and 1990 as well as two...
. Its colors are yellow and black, but for fans of the players are simply black. Play in Lega A2 in 2010/2011. Another amateur clubs, is also the San Severo Marvin School.
Soccer
There are three city soccer teams. The historic San Severo U.S., founded in 1922 (colors: yellow-grenade), competes at Field Stadium "Ricciardelli, recently renovated with synthetic grass. GS Apocalypse, which was formed by Michele PazienzaMichele Pazienza
Michele Pazienza is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, as a defensive midfielder.Pazienza started his career with Foggia in 2000. Three years later he was transferred to Udinese, but played on loan with Fiorentina for the 2006–07 season. Fiorentina purchased him in June 2007...
, and Pol Sanseveresi, founded in 2008.