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Cerreto Sannita along with Massa di Faicchio are the two main places of origin of the Cofrancescos who immigrated to the United States.

Cerreto Sannita has always been the center of the Titerno area. It was first ruled by the Longobardi, and then between the 12th century and the 15th century it was the seat of the feud of a Norman family, the Sanframondos, who had their Ducal Castle in the city. On June 5, 1688 a disastrous earthquake completely destroyed the medieval city and a new one was re-built near the ancient one in only eight years.  It was designed on the basis of the very innovative grid plan drawn up by the Royal Engineer Gian Battista Manni. The first Cofrancescos arrived in Cerreto Sannita just after the earthquake at the beginning of the 18th century, when Lorenzo Cofrancesco (I388) and his family moved there from San Lorenzello, perhaps to find employment. (See the paper The Origin of the Cofrancesco Family on this web site).

Cerreto Sannita has always been a very active city, with many craftsmen’s workshops. The most important industry of the Cerreto people was the production of wool fabrics. Sheep breeding was one of the main occupations of the people of Cerreto who lived in the countryside. Another very important industry of Cerreto started just after the earthquake is the making of pottery. Cerreto and San Lorenzello had many pottery workshops and developed a special ceramic painting style, which became much appreciated and well known also outside the area of the Titerno River Valley.

Cerreto Sannita - Madonna Assunta (1758)
The typical ceramic painted tiles of Cerreto Sannita
(Photo P. Cofrancesco)

After the unification of Italy, Cerreto still maintained its central role in the area, but as in many other places of southern Italy its industrial activities ended little by little because they were penalized by the new Italian politics and laws that favored the development of industries in northern Italy.

The Cofrancescos who emigrated from Cerreto Sannita in general were not peasants or country laborers. They were mainly craftsmen and they tried to continue their occupations in the USA. For instance we found that many Cofrancescos from Cerreto, who were shoemakers and dressmakers, continued their trades after arriving in their new homeland.

Cerreo Sannita today
The grid plan of the city has not been changed from the 18th century