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PARTENIO CHESTNUT IGP PROMOTIONAL COMMITTEE
THE CHESTNUT OF THE PARTENIO
HISTORICAL NOTES
The production area of the “Castagna del Partenio” includes 22 municipalities within the Partenio mountain range. As many as 20 of them are part of the Partenio Regional Park, while the other two are adjacent, demonstrating a great homogeneity of territory, from an environmental, pedological and floristic point of view, largely characterized by the widespread presence of the chestnut tree (Castanea sativa). The Partenio mountain range is part of the Campania side of the southern Apennines and rises majestically in the center of Campania. Due to its unique position, which practically touches the five provinces of the region, the Partenio highlights a fundamental characteristic for the entire Campania region, as an element of separation between significantly different and autonomous areas of human settlement.
From a climatic point of view, the Partenio has a highly variable profile, also due to the relative proximity of the sea, and corresponds to a territory particularly suited to fruit chestnut cultivation, due to the characteristics of the land and the climate. The rainfall recorded is one of the highest in the country, the average temperature varies between 18-26° in July, and 0 and -3° in January, with fluctuations that depend on the altitude. As regards the characteristics of the soil, the cultivation area of the “Castagna del Partenio” is characterised by a substrate of Mesozoic limestone, on which appear large and sometimes deep stratifications of loose, incoherent material such as tuff, ash, deriving from the ancient and recent eruptions of the Campania volcanoes and in particular of Vesuvius. These peculiar natural elements, together with the centuries-old and traditional work of man, his cultivation skills, his continuous research and the implementation of traditional and specific techniques and a constant work of improvement, have contributed to creating a true “culture” of the chestnut in the production area. The chestnut groves, in the production area considered, are widespread in the altitude range that goes from 300 to 1,100 m above sea level, in areas of notable naturalistic interest, characterized by intact woodland formations and landscapes of great attraction.
The geographical area of the PGI is also strongly influenced by the presence of the Abbey of Montevergine. Located on the summit of Partenio and built in the 9th century by Saint William of Vercelli, for centuries it has been a destination for pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. It was the Benedictines, who lived in the abbey, who started the chestnut cultivation activity in the area. They owned large landed properties, agricultural and forestry, in Partenio and in the surrounding areas and to provide for the management and improvement of their landed assets, in particular the chestnut groves, they hosted very skilled agronomists, among the best of the time, who discovered and spread throughout Campania the best "inserts", corresponding to the best ancestral varieties of the area. In particular, they were responsible for the selection and diffusion of the prized "Marrone di Avellino", in the period between the 12th and 16th centuries. The studies carried out in the 1980s by the former Experimental Institute for Fruit Growing of Caserta and the Institute of Tree Cultivation of the Federico II University of Naples, indicate that most of the ecotypes of chestnuts and similar marrons grown in Partenio, and known by the names of the municipalities where they are grown, belong to a single ancestral botanical group, probably precisely that of the "Santimango" or Avellino marron, selected and spread by the Benedictines and deriving from it. In the centuries following the Middle Ages, a true “Chestnut Civilization” developed in the area, rich in customs, traditions, legal norms, municipal statutes, agronomic techniques, control of the woods and the territory, all done with the aim of protecting and enhancing this precious plant, which was the main, often, only source of sustenance for the mountain population. At the beginning of the 17th century, the conditions for unprecedented economic growth were created in the mountain areas. The exploitation of the chestnut tree and its fruit thus became, in a short time, the primary economic axis for every family. There is no instrument, or will, in the hilly and mountainous areas, in which there is no mention of the sale or donation of a forest, or of a chestnut cut that was then used in the construction of palaces or to make barrels, or load-bearing planks of the ships of the Kingdom of Naples.
To the important pilgrimage of Montevergine, many historians, writers and poets, even of great fame, have dedicated works and writings over the centuries, at least from the 16th century to the present day, because they were fascinated by the popular rites that began in Naples up to the foot of the Partenio and from here ended with the arduous climb of the sacred mountain. Their testimonies are not only a hymn to popular devotion but also an unequivocal attestation of the beauty of the places and the majestic presence of the chestnut tree and chestnut groves crossed in the climb of the Partenio, both from Ospedaletto and from the Caudina Valley. Edward Lear, an English writer of the 19th century, in 1847 on his journey to the Sanctuary of Montevergine, from his carriage saw "hills covered with olive trees and heights thick with chestnut woods". Even the English novelist Augustus J.C. Hare, when he came to Italy in 1875, wanted to climb the Partenio to visit Montevergine. This is how he reports his journey: “Leaving Ospedaletto, a mule track winds through steep chestnut woods, dotted with rocks”. The great poet, writer and literary critic Alfonso Gatto in 1934, describing his journey to Irpinia, wrote in the magazine L'Illustrazione Italiana: “Covered with chestnut trees at its origin from the plain, in ancient woods and in coppice woods, the Partenio gradually changes its vegetation halfway up the hill, where the beech then thrives up to the summit...”.
Throughout the 19th century and part of the 20th century, thousands of farmers and mountain dwellers in the area depended largely on fresh, dried or ground chestnuts for their survival; the chestnut groves were increasingly well cultivated and cleaned to encourage fruit production. But even later, up to the present day, the chestnut tree has represented an added value for this area, so much so that the value of a mountain farm was often estimated precisely on the basis of the size, efficiency and productivity of the fruit-bearing chestnut grove. Since the post-war period, in the rural villages and larger towns of Partenio, the anniversary of the chestnut harvest was and is celebrated with autumn festivals and celebrations, lasting a couple of days but also a few weeks. They were often a source of pride and competition between municipalities and districts over who could best organize the locations, themes, floats, lights, as well as who could present the most beautiful chestnuts. Among the festivals that are still celebrated today, we can mention those of Cervinara, Summonte, Pannarano, Arpaise, Avella (associated with hazelnuts), Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo, Monteforte Irpino.
THE IGP AREA
The production area of the PGI "Castagna del Partenio", referred to in this specification, includes the entire administrative territory of the municipalities of: Avella, Cervinara, Mercogliano, Monteforte Irpino, Mugnano del Cardinale, Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo, Pietrastornina, Quadrelle, Roccabascerana, Rotondi, Sant'Angelo a Scala, San Martino Valle Caudina, Sirignano, Sperone, Summonte falling within the province of Avellino; Arpaia, Arpaise, Forchia, Pannarano, Paolisi, falling within the province of Benevento; Arienzo, falling within the province of Caserta; Roccarainola, falling within the province of Naples.
COMMITTEE
PARTENIO CHESTNUT IGP
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