CASERTA, Diocese of. – On the slopes of Mount Virgo, 400 m above sea level, is the present-day village of Old Caserta, which some would place on the site of ancient Saticola, while others regard it as of Lombard origin. It is first mentioned in the chronicle of Ecchempertus at the end of the 9th century under the name Casa Irta. It was held by the nephews of Bishop Landulfus; it flourished in the 10th century after the destruction of Suessula and Calatia; in 1268 it was taken by Charles of Anjou from Count Conrad, who ceded it to William of Bellomonte. It then passed to the Sanseverino, the Ribulsi, the della Ratta, the Caetani, and finally to the Bourbons in 1750.
When Charles III of Bourbon began in 1752 the construction of the famous royal palace, designed by L. Vanvitelli, in the plain at Torre, Old Caserta began to be depopulated in favor of the new Caserta that was rising around the palace.
As for the origin of the diocese, it does not go back beyond the 12th century, when at the time of Paschal II the bishop was Rainulfus (1133). In 1818 Pius VII united with Caserta the diocese of Caiazzo, which however Pius IX separated again in 1852.
A notable monument of Old Caserta is the cathedral dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, consecrated in 1153 and completed later; in it are found various architectural elements, such as the classical-style colonnades with rather Arab-like arches, as in the vaults of the transept; the high tiburium with its double order of arches stands out; the interior has three naves with reused columns and capitals, transept and apses. The surviving pulpit and the paschal candlestick, both with complex 13th-century mosaic decoration, were remodeled in the 18th century.
The pavement is of Cosmatesque type, with cut-out figures; the bell tower, from 1234, is cylindrical with small turrets, also of Sicilian inspiration, like that of Gaeta.
In Old Caserta was also the collegiate church of St. James, erected by Robert, Count of Caserta, and consecrated by Bishop Porphyrius in 1178 in honor of SS. James, Nicholas, and Basil; it was later annexed to the Dominican monastery in the 13th century.
There is also the church of St. Peter ad Montes, said to have been built on the ruins of the temple of Jupiter Tifernus and contemporary with the cathedral of Old Caserta; it is constructed with Roman materials and has a semicircular apse; inside, beneath the plaster, remains of frescoes can be seen, including a Crucifixion and, among the arches, Prophets, as in the contemporary S. Angelo in Formis.
The diocese, a suffragan of Capua, has an area of 407 sq. km and a population of 108,700, all Catholic, with 52 parishes, 109 diocesan priests and 35 regulars, and a minor seminary (1948). In Old Caserta was born G. A. Santori, called of Santaverina, who died a cardinal bishop of Albano in 1602.