Cerreto Sannita is a small town (or 'comune') in Italy which had a
population of 4,198 inhabitants as of 2009 in the province of
Benevento; located 35 km northeast of Benevento.
The town is located on a hill in the Titerno valley, surrounded by the Turio and Cappuccino creeks.
This town is known for its production of artistic pottery, a tradition which dates back to the 18th century.
Cerreto
Sannita served as a location for three important movies: Maddalena
(with Gino Cervi and Marta Thoren); La bella mugnaia (with Sophia
Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio De Sica); I briganti
italiani (with Vittorio Gassman and Ernest Borgnine).
The
comune of Cerreto Sannita covers an area of 33.3 square kilometres.
Until the Italian unification the town covered a greater area which
included the two geographic fractions of Civitella Licinio and San
Lorenzello; the first later became a fraction of Cusano Mutri and the
second became an autonomous comune.
The water courses which are present in the area are primarily creeks. They are:
*the
Titerno river which has its source in Pietraroja and flows in Cerreto
Sannita after passing through the valley between the Erbano and Cigno
mounts. On its levees, clay was once extracted and used to make
pottery;
*the Turio creek has its source near 'Madonna della
Libera', and after a small subterranean tract it flows right into the
Titerno;
*the Cappuccini creek has its source near Coppe mount. It
was called Cappuccini because it flows near the convent of Madonna
delle Grazie, belonging to Capuchin friars;
*the Selvatico creek.
The name, which means "savage", echoes the fact that this creek used to
flood the circumstantial plains during a very rainy season. It was also
called Vagno.