Cimitile is called that because it was a cemetery: coemeterium, the necropolis of Nola. There Felix was buried, a martyr venerated from the third century, and on his tomb the early Christian basilicas rose one after another, still there to be visited. At the beginning of the fifth century Paulinus of Nola, a Gallo-Roman noble turned monk, had a new one built, with three naves and a three-lobed apse.
Earlier still, on this spot, there was a temple of Hercules: perhaps the very one that Abella and Nola agreed to hold in common, in the treaty in the Oscan language carved on the Abellan cippus. The town's arms show a bell with a skull and seven butterflies: the butterflies answer the bees on the arms of Nola, and are said to stand for the seven basilicas.
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Next up: Saint Felix in Pincis, patron of the tomb visited by John Paul II, Thursday 14 January
Nearest airport: Napoli Capodichino, 20 km away
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📅 Every year, on 14 January; on 23 May 1992 John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the saint's tomb
Cimitile celebrates Saint Felix in Pincis on 14 January, in the church dedicated to him. On 23 May 1992, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Felix, remaining there in mystical concentration and prayer.
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