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The history of Savignano Irpino has its roots in prehistory and has developed over the centuries as a crossroads between Campania and Puglia, the heart of the Cervaro Valley and a strategic stronghold on the ‘Via delle Puglie’. Archaeological evidence documents a continuous human presence dating back to the Neolithic period (5500–4500 BC), with settlements at Monte Castello and in the localities of Fontana di Mottola, Postarza and Cesine. Artefacts made of flint and obsidian, decorated pottery and burial sites bear witness to well-established agricultural and pastoral communities.
Between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the area was inhabited by Italic peoples – the Hirpini, Dauni and Samnites – whilst in Roman times it became an important rural hub linked to the Fundus Sabinianus, connected to the towns of Aequum Tuticum and Vibianum and crossed by strategic road networks. Its proximity to the Pescasseroli–Candela sheep track further cemented the area’s agro-pastoral character.
The medieval village was founded between the 8th and 9th centuries as *castrum Sabinianum*, first mentioned in 988. During the Norman period, it became part of the Barony of Greci and Ferrara. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, the castle was the scene of sieges and conflicts between the Swabians, Normans and Angevins, confirming its dominant position over the valley. From the 15th century, Savignano passed into the hands of the powerful Guevara family, who consolidated its administrative role until the abolition of feudalism in 1806.
In the 18th century, the town is associated with Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini, Archbishop of Benevento and later Pope Benedict XIII, who in 1727 commissioned the construction of the *Hospitius pro peregrinis* – now Palazzo Orsini – a testament to the town’s central role along religious pilgrimage routes. Savignano is, in fact, part of the Via Francigena del Sud network, a route taken by pilgrims and crusaders heading for the ports of Apulia.
The nineteenth century was marked by the Carbonari uprisings of 1820 and 1848, the unification of Italy and the phenomenon of brigandage (1860–1880), which was facilitated by the woods between Savignano and Bovino. In 1862, the municipality adopted the name ‘Savignano di Puglia’, which was subsequently changed in 1963 to ‘Savignano Irpino’, thereby confirming its definitive affiliation with the province of Avellino.
The 20th century saw emigration to the Americas, Australia and Europe, the two world wars, and the earthquakes of 1930, 1962 and, above all, 1980, which caused severe damage to the built environment and the population. The post-war reconstruction and modernisation of the water supply networks, schools and infrastructure went hand in hand with the town’s urban transformation.
Today, Savignano Irpino preserves the traces of a thousand years of history in its historic centre, its castle and its churches. A borderland, this Irpinian village, suspended between memory and identity, continues to tell a story of resilience, faith and community pride, in which past and present interact against the backdrop of the Cervaro Valley.
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