Alife is a very ancient Italian city that counts 7502 inhabitants and is located in the province of Caserta in Campania.
Its origins date from the Sunni and its streets have seen Romans and Saracens, who have plundered it.
Alife is situated in the Volturno valley and is surrounded by the mountains of Matese. The river Torano runs 
through it, making the surrounding land fertile and productive.
The structure of the modern town of Alife has retained much of the urban plan of Rome. It is rectangular and the internal roads draw rectangles as well.
There still are the walls of the Roman era, then restored in the Middle Ages. The walls have a length of 1.9 kilometres. Along the walls every 39 meters there are towers that were designed to strengthen the walls and to allow people a better view on the surroundings.
At the centre of each of the 4 sides of the walls there are 4 doors (Porta Napoli, Porta Piemonte, Porta Roma and Porta Fiume), which allowed access to the city.
In the city centre there was a square overlooked by the main buildings of the city life and by the shops of merchants.
Archaeologists have found many Roman remains: structures of rich private houses, mosaics, painted walls and outside the city the necropolis.
The amphitheatre has recently been opened to the public. It is located outside the walls, a few steps away from Porta Napoli. It is a very large structure and in fact it is considered one of the largest amphitheatres throughout the Roman world. Experts have calculated that it could accommodate up to 14,000 spectators.
The Criptoportico, an ancient monument with its structure intact is also particularly interesting. This is a rectangular tunnel shaped as an U.
Photos from the Albums of: alifehappy.blogspot.com, eg65 and gay Denness.
Hotels in the area
