LIONI, province of Avellino, Campania, Italy

Lioni is a town (comune) in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.

The Appian Way comes down into beautiful reliefs along the valley of Ofanto, by the train station for Rocchetta S.Antonio. At 55km one takes the road for Lioni (altitude: 550m, 6318 inhabitants), an agricultural and commercial centre with industrial activities, situated on a slope on the left of Ofanto. Amidst the communes damaged by the seism of 1980, one is presented with incredible transformation. Yet there remain signs of what the town once was in the form of a suggestive panorama as well as ethnographic collections on display in the middle school.

The town arose into an inhabited zone at the end of antiquity. In the nearby locality of Oppido Vetere there remain statuettes, coins and antique vases. There are those who maintain that it was an hamlet of Ferentum on Ofanto, destroyed together within the same centre by the romans in order to be delivered to Hannibal after Canne; followed by repopulation with Ligurian deportations. In the Medieval era it conflicted with Oppido and it was feuded amongst the Torricelli, the Zurlo, the Carafa and the Imperials. It was reconstructed completely after the disastrous earthquake of 1694. In conclusion, it is the homeland of the sculptor Pietro Nittoli (xviii century).At the characteristic festa di S.Rocco ( 15-16th August), the manisfestations are cited.

The parish of the betrothed: recently restored and rebuilt appropriate to the locality, with beautiful stone portals, inside, there are three naves divided by pillars; beautiful altars originating from the abbey of Saint Guglielmo of Goleto and a rich decoration in stucco. A primary altar can also be found on the left, an interesting statue of the rank of Pietro Nittoli. There are statues of the Annunciation in the churches of S.S. Annunziata, by the same artist from Lioni, which come out into a nearby small square; as well as a statue of the Visitation, which one finds in the chapel of Saint Maria of Piano, at 1.2 km south-west of the habitat, beyond the river. Also worthy of note on the edge of the small town, on a level ground with the Monument of the fallen, lies the church of the Saint Rocco, that conserves the ancient portal in stone.

Piano Laceno

Lioni is an excellent start for interesting excursions of Piano Laceno, which can be joined with a scenic country route at 19.5 km, with an ascension to Mount Cervialto ( 30km by road or 6 hours by a path that passes by the Serre of the Lake, then west to M. Oppido and Calvello, then one goes down to the Arian pebble coast and rises again to reach the floor of Sazzano, amidst beechwood found on the mountain top), and at Mount Calvello, 1579 m altitude, there is a vast panorama (12 km by road direct to Paino Laceno, then half an hour by the path due south).