Palma Campania, known until 1863 as Palma di Nola, is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Naples

Province of Naples

The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

, located about 25 km east of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

.

Palma Campania borders the following municipalities: Carbonara di Nola

Carbonara di Nola

Carbonara di Nola is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 30 km east of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,109 and an area of 3.5 km²....

, Domicella

Domicella

Domicella is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy....

, Lauro

Lauro

Lauro is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy....

, Liveri

Liveri

Liveri is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 30 km northeast of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,725 and an area of 2.6 km²....

, Nola

Nola

Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

, Poggiomarino

Poggiomarino

Poggiomarino is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km east of Naples.-History:...

, San Gennaro Vesuviano

San Gennaro Vesuviano

San Gennaro Vesuviano is a village of 10,100 people located in the province of Naples in Southern Italy.- Geography :San Gennaro Vesuviano is located in the country-side area around Nola approximately 25 kilometers east of Naples and nine kilometers from Nola...

, San Giuseppe Vesuviano

San Giuseppe Vesuviano

San Giuseppe Vesuviano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km east of Naples...

, Sarno

Sarno

Sarno is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 20 km northeast from the city of Salerno and 60 km east of Naples by the main railway.-Overview:...

, Striano

Striano

Striano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km east of Naples.Striano borders the following municipalities: Palma Campania, Poggiomarino, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, San Valentino Torio, Sarno....

, Ottaviano

Ottaviano

Ottaviano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km east of Naples and is located in the Vesuvian Area. Ottaviano was in Roman times a hamlet of houses within a vast estate belonging to the gens Octavia, Augustus's family...

.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates human habitation of the area in the early Bronze age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 (c.1850 BCE), but the foundation of the town is taken to be more recent. It has been suggested that Palma was founded in the sixth century CE by people taking refuge from the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

; alternatively it may be linked to a Roman consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 named Palma who held office at the beginning of the first century CE. The oldest building still standing is the ninth-century church of San Martino, in the frazione Vico. The earliest extant documentary record of the place dates to 997. During the Middle Ages the town's fortunes were linked to the noble families Di Palma, Orsini, Della Tolfa, Pignatelli, Di Bologna, Caracciolo

Caracciolo

Caracciolo is the surname of a famous noble family of southern Italy.Its members include:*Battistello Caracciolo, Italian painter*Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo, Spanish viceroy of Peru*Francesco Caracciolo, Neapolitan admiral and revolutionist...

, Salluzzo, and Compagna.