Cairano

Cairano’s strategic position, at the centre of the natural transport route between the Ofanto valley and the one of river Sele that connects the Adriatic coast to the Thyrrenian one, has favoured human settlement already since the first iron age. Findings of a settlement and a necropolis with pit tombs, rediscovered in Vignale, are a testimony of this and are considered among the most ancient ones of this type in Campania. These finds, of refined making, show that in Iripinia, between the IX and the VII century B.C., lived populations characterised by a high level of development, so much so that they worked metals skillfully. According to some people the name Cairano derives from Castellum Carissanum, as it is written in the Natural History (book II C. 57) by Pliny the Elder published in 77 A.C. The patron saint of Cairano is Saint Leo the Great, the first Pope who obtained the title Great. In Cairano the procession and the popular feast dedicated to him fall on the last Sunday of July. The Feast of Corpus Christi is one of the main functions of the liturgical year of the Catholic Church. This feast is a precept and it is celebrated on Thursday of the II week after the Pentecost. On this day Cairano puts on a very particular look. On the balconies people display the most beautiful and embroidered sheets, women create real shrines with a stand covered with a white sheet to emulate the altar where, during the procession, the priest stops and recites some prayers and where some children recite poems and prayers to the Lord. It is a very special and unique procession with respect to the surrounding villages. In 1963 Cairano hosted an experiment of neorealistic cinema by becoming the natural theatre for the shoot of the movie “La Donnaccia” to which the inhabitants of the village of Irpinia participated as actors or extras. The movie represents the critical life conditions of that period by dealing with themes like emigration and superstition. A village in great ferment, the possibility to gain some extra money participating to the movie. La Donnaccia had been a new experience that left a beautiful memory to every inhabitant of Cairano, which is still remembered today with thrill.