The communal territory, measuring 18 square kilometres (7 square miles), borders the municipalities ofAcerra,Casalnuovo di Napoli,Caivano,Cardito andCasoria, forming a single metropolitan area of around 100,000 inhabitants. Thecomune of Afragola is one of the most densely populated of the country.
The area of modern Afragola was already settled in ancient times by theSamnites. Older remains, belonging to an earlyBronze Age settlement buried by aVesuvius eruption in the 19th century BC, were found in 2005.[3]
According to a tradition now recognized as false,[4] the town was founded in the Middle Ages, in 1140, byRoger II of Sicily, who assigned the land to its veterans. It is more likely that the city stemmed from the merger of several villages and churches already existing here. The territory was originally held by thearchbishops of Naples, but from 1576 it was directly subjected, as an autonomous community, to theKings of Naples.
Baroque sanctuary-basilica ofSt. Anthony'ssanctuary-basilica. It was begun in 1633 and has a nave with two aisles, internally decorated with marbles. The bell tower was constructed from 1590.
The castle, documented from 1495, was likely built from around 1420. According to the tradition, it was a residence of queenJoanna II of Naples. It currently houses a childhood school.[citation needed]
San Marco in Sylvis Church, built around 1179. On its external wall is a slab on which, according to the legend, once sat both St. Mark andSan Gennaro.
Napoli Afragola railway station was designed by the architectZaha Hadid and opened in 2017. This station is only used by high-speed trains on theRome–Naples high-speed railway line, which link Afragola to many Italian cities including Bologna, Milan, Florence and Turin.
Afragola's bus network is managed by CTP (theConsorzio Trasporto Pubblico or Public Transport Consortium).
Afragola is the seat of one of the largestcamorra clans of the area, led byAnna Mazza. In 1999 and 2005, the communal council was disbanded by rule of the President of Italian Republic due to mafia allegiance of some of its members.[5]
Along with most of the nearby communes, Afragola also suffers from high pollution rates, as well as a highunemployment rate;unreported employment is also widespread.[6]
