Ancient Abella

Abella, an Oscan city set at the mouth of a pass over Mount Partenio, became first Etruscan and then Samnite. In 399 BC it placed itself under the protection of Rome until 87 BC, when it was set on fire by the people of Nola. Not far from today's built-up area stand the ruins of the majestic Amphitheatre, with opus reticulatum structures and tuff seating. It dates to the late Republican period and leans, along its south-eastern side, against the 2nd-century BC walls, whose inner curtain of opus incertum is still visible.