San Nicola la Strada
San Nicola la Strada: a municipality in the province of Caserta
Hello everyone! Today we are talking about San Nicola la Strada, an Italian municipality in the province of Caserta in Campania. This municipality is closely connected to the city of Caserta and is located along the ancient route of the Appian Way, in the stretch that led from the Roman Capua (now Santa Maria Capua Vetere) to Benevento, east of the Sannitic Way that connects Naples with the Royal Palace of Caserta.
Physical geography
The heart of the city is located along the ancient route of the Appian Way and near the ancient city of Calatia. San Nicola la Strada is like a southern appendix of Caserta and is famous for its 18th-century monuments and buildings. Among these, we can find the Royal Bourbon Convitto, the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and the Villa Comunale.
Origin of the name
The name of the municipality comes from the patron saint, Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor, (also known as Saint Nicholas of Bari) in addition to the Ancient Appian Way ("la strada") that crosses the entire municipal territory along the east-west direction. The presence of the Appian Way and the proximity to the city of Calatia tells us a story that dates back at least to the 3rd century BC.
History
The first historical testimonies of an urban agglomeration date back to Livy and Strabo, who report on the ancient Maddaloni-Calatia, an Etruscan city that was part of the Etruscan dodecapolis with ancient Capua as its leader, then inhabited by the Samnites, and later by the Roman civilization located between the current municipalities of Maddaloni and San Nicola la Strada, in the area called Lo Uttaro.
The city of Calatia, flourishing in Roman times, was gradually abandoned during the High Middle Ages due to Saracen incursions. The first document referring to San Nicola la Strada dates back to 1221, while in 1319 the village was indicated as a hamlet of "Sanctii Nicolai de Strata" in the land of Maddaloni. In 1413, a document of the archbishop Senne of Capua mentions a Church of San Nicolae.
Population and socio-economic growth
The demographic and socio-economic growth of San Nicola la Strada began only in the 1700s thanks to the great works of Vanvitelli. In the Sannicolese territory, there were numerous quarries (called "i monti"), which provided the tuff material for the construction of the Reggia di Caserta. The tradition of the stonecutters ("i tagliamonti") has been passed down to the early 1960s. Today, San Nicola la Strada has 22,030 inhabitants and continues to grow thanks to its proximity to the city of Caserta and its thousand-year history.
I hope this brief summary is useful in discovering more about this municipality in the province of Caserta!
