Campania · Avellino
Savignano Irpino
A 718-meter stone borgo above the Cervaro valley on the Campania-Apulia border, called Savignano di Puglia until 1963.
Known for
GUEVARA CASTLE
Norman keep on the high ground, rebuilt in 1445 by the Spanish Guevara family who held Savignano as a fief for generations.
CACIOCAVALLO
Cervaro-Miscano valley pastures feed cows that produce the spun-curd caciocavallo, including the Caciocavallo Silano PDO.
BORDER BORGO
Called Savignano di Puglia until 1963, the rename to Irpino marked its administrative loyalty to Campania over the Apulian plain it overlooks.
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Sant'Anna, 26 July
Why come
Savignano Irpino sits at 718 meters on the edge of Irpinia, where the province narrows toward Apulia. The Latin name Sabinius points to a Roman landowner, but the village as it stands now grew up between the seventh and eighth centuries around a defensive castle on the high ground. Under the Normans it became part of a barony dependent on Ariano Irpino, with Ferrara and Greci.
In 1193, during Tancredi d'Altavilla's reign, governor Sarolo Guarna was executed on the castle tower. In 1445 the Guevara family, Spanish nobles, turned the medieval manor into a lordly residence; their name still attaches to the castle. The town was called Savignano di Puglia until 1963, when the border-of-region status pushed the rename.
The Mother Church of San Nicola and Sant'Anna and the Castello Guevara anchor the medieval core. It joined the Borghi più belli network in 2016.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Savignano Irpino’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Castello Guevara
Norman fortress on the high point of the village, rebuilt in 1445 by the Guevara family who held the fief for generations.
Chiesa Madre di San Nicola e Sant'Anna
Mother church on a medieval sacred site, its bell tower originally a watchtower over the Cervaro valley below.
Centro storico
Compact stone-built medieval core between castle and church, Borghi più belli member since 2016.
Valle del Cervaro-Miscano
Surrounding valley of wheat fields and pasture between Campania and Apulia, traversed by the regio tratturo transhumance routes.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 1,004
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 49 min drive
- Regional capital Napoli, 1 h 53 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 718 m
- Population: 1,004
- Surface area: 38.47 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Savignano Irpino
Ariano Irpino
Province: Avellino
The City of the Three Hills at 788 meters, where Roger II promulgated the Assizes of 1140 and majolica kilns still fire.
Faeto
Province: Foggia
The highest village in Puglia at 820 meters, Franco-Provençal-speaking since 1266, on a Monti Dauni ridge below Monte Cornacchia.
Zungoli
Province: Avellino
An Irpinia ridge at 657 meters between the Ufita valley and the Daunian hills, with Norman walls above and Byzantine tuff caves below the houses.
Bovino
Province: Foggia
A Daunian Mountains hill town at 646 meters above the Cervaro valley, Roman Vibinum, with a Norman-Swabian castle later turned into a Guevara ducal palace.
Celle di San Vito
Province: Foggia
The smallest commune in Puglia, 148 residents at 726 meters in the Monti Dauni, one of two Franco-Provençal-speaking villages in the south.
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