Battipaglia

Battipaglia is a town with 50,513 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2012) in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of Italy. It is located 21 km south-east of Salerno.

Geography

Battipaglia is located on the river Tusciano in the fertile plain of the Sele. The municipal area extends from the coast on the Gulf of Salerno to the first foothills of the Monti Picentini. Due to the strong population growth in recent years, the area is heavily urban sprawl.

The nearby towns are: Bellizzi, Eboli, Montecorvino Rovella, Olevano sul Tusciano and Pontecagnano Faiano.

Infrastructure

Road

• A3 Salerno -Reggio Calabria

Train

• Railway line Salerno -Reggio Calabria ( Tirrenica Meridional )
• Railway Battipaglia - Metaponto

Flight

• Naples airport

History

Battipaglia was founded in 1858 as an agricultural colony, when they began to make the marshy plain of the Sele arable. But it was only on 28 March 1929, was dissolved as a separate municipality from the communities Montecorvino Rovella and Eboli. Since 1960, it has city status.

A much older history, the north of the main town situated castle Castelluccio, which was first mentioned in 1080.

1943 Battipaglia was almost completely destroyed in bombing by the Allies.

Demographics

Source: ISTAT

Policy

The Alfonso appointed by the provincial government Noce leads since August 1, 2008 as acting city administration. The elected mayor in June 2007 Gennaro Barlotti ( PdL ) resigned because he was no majority in the municipal council. The supporting him center-right alliance won in the local elections only 10 of 30 seats in the municipal council.

Swell