Pagani keeps Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the Church doctor who wrote "Tu scendi dalle stelle", Italy's beloved Christmas carol; he died here in 1787, and the basilica with its museum draws constant pilgrimage. But the town erupts in Easter week's octave, when the Madonna delle Galline — among Campania's most authentic feasts — fills the streets with tammorra drums, shell horns and doves riding the processional floats.
In the heart of the Nocera plain, among San Marzano tomatoes and canneries, Pagani is a stop of flavours and faith: the ragù-soaked cuzzetiello and the santarosa pastry were born steps away.
Near Pagani
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
