Gragnano

Not to be confused with Gargnano.

For other uses, see Gragnano (disambiguation).

Gragnano is a hill town and comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, in southern Italian region of Campania. It is located about 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Naples, between a mountain crest and the Amalfi Coast.

Gragnano
Comune
Comune di Gragnano
Church of Santa Maria of the Assumption.
Location of Gragnano
Gragnano Location of Gragnano in Italy Show map of Italy Gragnano Gragnano (Campania) Show map of Campania
Coordinates: 40°41′N 14°31′E
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Metropolitan city	Naples (NA)
Frazioni	Aurano, Caprile, Castello, Iuvani
Government
• Mayor	Paolo Cimmino
Area [1]
• Total	14.6 km2 (5.6 sq mi)
Elevation	141 m (463 ft)
Population  (31 June 2015)[2]
• Total	29,310
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,200/sq mi)
Demonym	Gragnanesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	80054
Dialing code	081
Patron saint	Saint Sebastian
Saint day	January 20
Website	Official website

Gragnano borders the following municipalities: Agerola, Casola di Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia, Lettere, Pimonte, Ravello, Sant'Antonio Abate, Santa Maria la Carità, Scala.

In 1169 its name was added to the title of the bishopric of nearby Lettere, which was thus renamed Roman Catholic Diocese of Lettere-Gragnano, but Gragnano never had a co-cathedral and its title was dropped when the suppressed see was nominally restored as titular bishopric of Lettere.^[3]

Pasta

Via Roma in Gragnano, circa 1900.

According to the local population, Gragnano is Italy's capital of pasta. Gragnano is home of some of the best dried pasta in Italy.^[4] In 2013, Gragnano pasta was designated a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union.^[5]

Gragnano's "main street was laid out expressly to capture the mountain breeze mixed with sea air back when pasta makers hung spaghetti on drying rods like laundry," according to a Forbes Life write up.^[4] More recently heaters have been used to dry the pasta at low temperatures (approximately 50 °C (122 °F)) for two days and it is shaped with bronze to give it a rough texture, producing a pasta with a "nuttier aroma and chewier mouth feel."^[4]

Notable locals

• Margherita Sarrocchi (ca. 1560 – 1617), an Italian poet and a supporter of the theories of Galileo Galilei
• Tito Vuolo (1893–1962), actor, was born there.^[6]
• Giuseppe Beotti (1912–1944), an Italian Catholic priest murdered by Nazi soldiers
• Antonio Buscè (born 1975), an Italian former footballer with 547 club caps
• Gennaro Scognamiglio (born 1987), an Italian footballer with over 400 club caps