NOCERA DEI PAGANI (ALFATERNA), DIOCESE OF. — A city and diocese in the province of Salerno, with a population of 90,000 all Catholic, distributed in 24 parishes, served by 85 diocesan priests and 45 regular clergy; 1 seminary, 5 male religious communities and 18 female (*Ann. Pont.*, 1951, p. 290). The diocese is a suffragan of Salerno. The cathedral, once dedicated to St. Priscus, is now under the invocation of St. Mark.
I. HISTORY
N. soon accepted the new religion and seems to have given the faith two martyrs: Felix and Constantia, cited several times in the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum*, though not unanimously accepted by hagiographers. The origin of the episcopal see should also date back to the pre-Constantinian era or shortly thereafter; the bishop Priscus, celebrated in poem XIX (vv. 515 ff.) of St. Paulinus of Nola, can be assigned to the 3rd–4th centuries.The names and even the existence of Priscus’s successors are unknown. One must reach the 5th century to find a Felix (401–17), known from a letter addressed to him by Pope Innocent I (Jaffé-Wattenbach, no. 314). After about a century, we find Caelius Laurentius, who, elected (498) pope by the Roman people in opposition to Symmachus, had to leave the city following Theoderic’s judgment in favor of Symmachus and accept the episcopal see of N. in Campania. He remained there only briefly: dissatisfied with the see and continually harassed by discordant factions, he was “e coetu... sacerdotali proiectus” by the Roman synod and replaced (502) by Aprilis, who at the council had subscribed in favor of Pope Symmachus. Among the successors, we know of Numerius (593) and Primarius (598) from two letters of St. Gregory the Great (Jaffé-Wattenbach, nos. 1244 and 1569). In another letter by the same pontiff (Jaffé-Wattenbach, no. 1846), mention is made of a *Nucerinus episcopus*, but it is unclear whether Primarius was still alive in 601 or if this refers to a successor.
Then follow, at long intervals, three bishops much disputed among N. Umbra, Lucera, and N. dei P.: Amanzio (743), who subscribed to the Roman synod of Pope Zacharias; Liutardus (826), present at the council of Eugenius II but more likely to be assigned to N. Umbra; and Lando (1063–67), deposed by Alexander II, whose Nucerine or Lucerine identity is debated depending on the interpretation of *Micenium* in the text (PL 146, 1320 and 1406; Jaffé-Wattenbach, nos. 4538 and 4640; Kehr [see BIBL.], VIII, pp. 304 ff.). The successor Felix (1109) is a repetition from Ughelli; but Valerius Ursinus (1228), though not a saint, is recorded as present at the blessing of the new church of St. Lazarus in Capua (G. Orlando [see BIBL.], III, p. 453), and may have been one of the first prelates elected after the total destruction of the city by Roger II (1138).
At this point, historians relate that in 1260 a bishop whose name is unknown was killed by the people, whereupon the city was deprived of its episcopal see by Alexander IV and the diocese divided, until 1386, between the archbishops of Salerno and Amalfi. However, Orlando (loc. cit., pp. 433 ff.) asserts the existence of two bishops: Stephen (1304) and N.... (1315), the latter supposed but not declared in any document. Finally, in 1386 Urban VI appointed Fra Francesco da Nocera, consecrated only later (1389) by Boniface IX. Thereafter, the series of prelates is uninterrupted. Among others, we may recall Paolo Giovio (1528), the celebrated Renaissance historian who died in 1552, who left the see to his nephew Julius (1552), then to another nephew Paul the Younger (1560–85). The most meritorious bishop was Simone Lunadoro (1602–10), who reformed the clergy, wrote the history of his diocese, rebuilt the cathedral, and completed the long works begun by his predecessors.
In 1818, following the Concordat with the King of Naples, Pius VII united the see to that of Cava; but in 1833 Gregory XVI, with the bull *In vinea Domini*, restored II. Finally, in N. dei P., St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori founded his congregation; he is buried in the church elevated in his honor in nearby Pagani.
II. MONUMENTS
The ancient Nuceria Paganorum (or Alfaterna) is still contested between Nocera Superiore and Nocera Inferiore, without decisive arguments; though many incline toward the former, which among other things preserves the ancient church of Sta. Maria Maggiore. Long considered a pagan temple or a thermal hall transformed into a church, it is now, after the latest studies by Stettler, certainly a Paleochristian baptistery, unique in its structural type among existing Italian baptisteries. Although altered during restoration work in 1856, much of the original structure remains, allowing reconstruction. It is a circular building, preceded by a portico with four pillars (not original) and closed by a semicircular apse with an altar, which were part of the ancient structure. The interior consists of a double annular gallery, divided by a peristyle of 30 paired columns along the radial line, all monolithic but unequal: those of the outer ring are of cipollino marble; those of the inner ring are of various natures and different craftsmanship. Notable, in addition to some magnificent capitals and certain fine bases, are the abaci of intercommunion, formed by a single rough monolith resting on double capitals. At the center is the large baptismal pool enclosed by 8 columns of Parian or granite (now only five remain) that rest on a circular wall adorned with fine *putei*, in which motifs and decorative influences of the Justinianic era can be discerned. The external perimeter wall, now entirely rebuilt, was a light structure, thinned by small window openings, but without any essential function in the building’s structure. The dome, in fact, which represents the masterpiece of this interesting construction, rests on the fifteen pairs of columns of the peristyle, and its drum, unlike other known buildings in Rome and the East, curves toward the internal conoidal vault, constructed with horizontal courses of tufa interrupted by rings of brick and terminating above in a very low dome of concrete. The windows are therefore also curved, and at one time light entered through openings in the eight external slabs, which in cylindrical form are visible, making the construction more harmonious and lighter than it appears today, heavy and convoluted due to added structures.As for its date, both for the decoration and for the structural innovations compared to the construction methods used in Rome for Sta. Costanza and Sta. Stefano Rotondo, it is impossible to date it earlier than the 6th century or later than the 7th, due to the complete absence of Lombard elements.
Not far from N. Superiore is the sanctuary of Sta. Maria di Materdomini, a Romanesque structure entirely rebuilt in the 1700s by the school of Vanvitelli. Of some interest inside are the frescoes by Giacinto Diano. Another ancient little church is that of Sta. Maria di M. Albino, near N. Inferiore, remodeled and decorated in 1530 by G. B. Castaldo, captain of Charles V, who donated to this chapel the artistic remains looted during the sack of Rome.