Patron saint festival In 98 days
Saint Sebastian, patron of the Roman amphitheatre
📅 Every year, on 20 January
Avella celebrates Saint Sebastian on 20 January.
The hazelnut is named after this town: Corylus avellana comes from the nux Abellana, and from it come the Spanish avellana and the Portuguese avelã too. But the oldest thing in Avella is a stone written in Oscan, the Abellan cippus: a treaty of the second century before Christ between Abella and Nola to settle where one ended and the other began.
The border ran through a temple of Hercules, and the two cities decided to hold it in common: the fruit of the sacred orchard was to be shared between the two peoples, and anyone who found a treasure in that ground had to hand it over to the other side. The stone was found in 1745 among the ruins of the castle, and for a while served as the doorstep of a house; today it is in Nola.
The Avella guide
🎉 Festivals and feasts in Avella 1
No events match these filters.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Avella
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Avella, but an easy day trip away.
Castellana Caves 📍 Castellana Grotte · 1.8 km A 3,348-meter karst cave system mapped in 1938, noted for its 60-meter-deep skylight and dazzling white formations. Santuario di Maria Santissima Regina del Mondo 📍 Monopoli · 6.4 km The sanctuary in the Antonelli district of Monopoli, rebuilt as a vow for the town's safety and consecrated in 1950. Rione Monti 📍 Alberobello · 13 km The 1,030 trulli of Alberobello's larger quarter, laid dry-stone to dodge a tax. Trullo Sovrano 📍 Alberobello · 12 km With walls reaching 2.70 metres in thickness, the Trullo Sovrano is the supreme example of dry-stone architecture. Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali 📍 Polignano a Mare · 13 km Puglia's only permanent contemporary art museum, set in a former slaughterhouse overlooking the sea in Polignano. Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate 📍 Fasano · 17 km The Observant friars' church in Fasano, with its dome, onion-spired bell tower and frescoed 1600s cloister.