Literary Park Francesco De Sanctis (Province of Avellino, Italy)

When literary critic, historian, and politician Francesco De Sanctis (1817-1883) undertook the campaign that would serve as the basis for his Un viaggio elettorale (An Electoral Voyage) between 1874 and 1875, little did he know that one day his steps would be retraced and made into a literary park that bears his name.

Born in Morra Irpino in 1817, De Sanctis was best known for writing Storia della letteratura Italiana (History of Italian Literature). In 1826, De Sanctis left Morra for the first time when he was invited to Naples to further his education. After completing his high school education, De Sanctis began legal studies that he soon abandoned after discovering the work of literary critic Basilio Puoti, with whom he eventually became a collaborator (Pro Loco Morra De Sanctis, n.d.).

De Sanctis briefly returned to Morra between 1836-39 during an outbreak of cholera. Following his return to Naples, he opened a private school that allowed him to meet and work with fellow intellectuals of his time, including Angelo Camillo De Meis, Diomede Marvasi, and Pasquale Villari. Both instructors and students of the school participated in the May 15, 1848 failed rebellion against King Ferdinand II in Naples to dire consequences, as the school was forced to close. Additional consequences included the death of one of the school’s most illustrious pupils, Luigi La Vista, in the uprising, as well as De Sanctis’s imprisonment for three years following a period teaching for a military college (Pro Loco Morra De Sanctis, n.d.). This incident was part of the revolutionary year of 1848 that swept over much of Europe.

During his imprisonment, De Sanctis produced several important works, including his philosophical poem La Prigione (The Prison), a translation of Hegel’s Science of Logic, a translation of Karl Rosenkranz’s Geschichte Der Deutschen Poesie Im Mittelalter (History of German Poetry in the Middle Ages), a partial translation of Goethe’s Faust, and drafts of two theatrical works on Christopher Columbus and Torquato Tasso (Pro Loco Morra De Sanctis, n.d.).

De Sanctis was sentenced to exile in the United States in 1853 because he was deemed dangerous to the Kingdom of Two Sicilies due to his support of Italian Unification. However, he was able to flee to Turin, where he lectured on Dante and published additional literary criticism. In 1856, he received a position teaching Italian literature at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he remained until 1860. While in Zurich, he met Wagner and Schopenhauer, and began additional critical work on the Divine Comedy, as well as on the works of Petrarch, Manzoni, and Leopardi (Pro Loco Morra De Sanctis, n.d.).

In 1860, De Sanctis met Giuseppe Mazzini and joined his Partito d’Azione, leaving Zurich to return to Italy to support Unification. He was elected the first governor of the Province of Avellino, and was then nominated as the first Minister of Public Education by Cavour. Following a failed reconfirmation bid in 1866, De Sanctis turned his focus to his writing, publishing his most important works between 1866-1872, including Saggi Critici (Critical Essays) (1866), Saggio critico sul Petrarca (Critical Essay on Petrarch) (1869), Storia della letteratura italiana (History of Italian Literature) (1870-71), and Nuovi saggi critici (New Critical Essays). In 1871, he began a role as professor of comparative literature at the University of Naples Federico II (Pro Loco Morra De Sanctis, n.d.).

Between 1874-75, De Sanctis returned to Morra Irpino as he undertook his electoral voyage that resulted in his election as a deputy in the Italian chamber. The notes and letters he wrote during his campaign served as the basis for his book Un viaggio elettorale (1876). Italian historian and politician Pasquale Villari described this book as “the most faithful depiction of our environments and political customs” (Chiappetta, 2016).

De Sanctis died in 1883. Additional volumes of his Storia della letteratura italiana were published posthumously. De Sanctis’s influence continues to be felt, most notably through the work of Benedetto Croce. Fifty-one years after De Sanctis’s death, the municipality of Morra Irpino changed its name to Morra De Sanctis in his honor in 1934.

The Parco Letterario Francesco De Sanctis comprises several of the towns in Irpinia that De Sanctis visited when he campaigned for political office during 1874 and 1875 that served as the backdrop for both Un viaggio elettorale and his posthumous work, La giovinezza (Youth). Besides Morra De Sanctis, the towns included in the literary park include Andretta, Conza della Campania, Guardia Lombardi, Lioni, Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, and Teora. These towns continue to celebrate De Sanctis’s memory by hosting literary events, including poetry readings, as well as other celebrations of Irpinian culture. The park also allows guests to discover the reconstruction of Alta Irpinia following the 1980 Irpinia Earthquake as the towns all sustained damage. Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi was the quake’s epicenter. The death toll from the earthquake was 2,483 people.

Literary parks began in Italy in the early 1980s as a way to preserve the Castle of Colloredo di Monte Albano in the region of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, which was where Ippolito Nievo wrote Confessions of an Italian in 1867 (Parchi Letterari, n.d.-a). Nievo’s work is considered by many to be the most important novel about Italy’s Risorgimento, which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. The castle was heavily damaged by the 1976 Friuli Earthquake, which killed 990 people. Nievo’s grandson, Stanislao Nievo, wished to preserve the history surrounding the castle and to call further attention to its significance in Italian literature (Parchi Letterari, n.d.-a). From this first literary park sprang many others throughout Italy, including the ones dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini near Rome, and Grazia Deledda in Sardinia.

In 2009, Paesaggio Culturale Italiano Srl was formed to organize a national and international network designed to call attention to responsible and sustainable tourism (Parchi Letterari, n.d.-b). Italy’s literary parks fall under the jurisdiction of Paesaggio Culturale Italiano Srl, as by their nature, they preserve and promote the nation’s cultural and natural heritage (Parchi Letterari, n.d-b.).

The Parco Letterario Francesco De Sanctis was founded in the late 1990s and continues to honor its namesake’s legacy through guided tours that mirror De Sanctis’s electoral voyage (Sistema Irpina, n.d.). Aiming to depict the region as faithfully as possible, the park also offers events focusing on the history of Irpinia, including its folklore and customs, as well as its role in ancient, medieval, and modern Italian history. Poetry readings featuring writers from Alta Irpinia are also a staple of the park’s regular activities, as well as events focusing on emigration out of Irpinia to other parts of Italy and the world.

The town of Morra De Sanctis also features a museum in honor of Francesco De Sanctis located in the house where he was born. This museum features artifacts from his life, as well as several of his documents and letters. The museum also features two memorial plaques in his honor placed by the town, including one commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death in 1983.

How to cite this entry: Longo, S.A. (2025). Literary Park Francesco De Sanctis (Province of Avellino, Italy). In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59