Boscotrecase (Italian: [ˌbɔskotre(k)ˈkaːse, -aːze];[3][4] Neapolitan: Vuoscotreccase; "Three-House Grove") is a town and municipality of 9,790 inhabitants[2] in the metropolitan city of Naples in Campania, Italy.

The Villa of Agrippa Postumus is an important archeological site, buried by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, discovered in 1903.

In 1770 and 1774, a number of gold and silver coins and some bronze statues were discovered, which are now kept in the Royal Museum of Portici.

[citation needed] In 1899, a villa belonging to L. Arelli Successi was unearthed, which contained tombs, Christian lamps, remains of an aqueduct, and a wine cellar.

Around the year 1000, the area was part of the fiefdom of the Baron of Ottaviano, who may have built a church dedicated to San Gennaro.

In the first half of the 1200s, Frederick II of Swabia detached the area from the Barony of Ottaviano, in order to use it as a personal hunting reserve.

After Frederick, the area returned to the Barony, but was re-detached in 28 March 1337 by Robert of Anjou, who donated it to three convents,[9] including one dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena, founded by his wife Sancia of Majorca.

Because of the three convents, the area became known as Bosci Trium Domorum ("Woods of the Three Houses"), which over time was changed to "Boscotrecase".

Between the 14th and 15th Centuries, Raimondo Orsini del Balzo, Count of Nola, built various watchtowers in the area to defend the territory against pirate raids.

Philip III of Spain ceded Boscotrecase to Marco Antonio Jodice of Genoa, as payment for debts.

Giacomo Cantelmo formed a commission; including experts from Santa Chiara, Naples; to decide the matter.

The slabs that paved the streets of many cities in the Kingdom of Naples came from Vesuvian stone mined in Boscotrecase.

Thanks to the wealthy economy, the two parish churches were enlarged and embellished with altars made from polychrome marble and with numerous paintings.

On 3 February 1807, Joseph Bonaparte, king of Naples, suppressed all non-mendicant religious orders, which caused the Celestines to abandon the Church of the Annunziatella.

In that same year, the feudal fief was negated and Joachim Murat took the wooded area away from the three monasteries of Naples, dividing the land and selling it to different families.

[10] Some residents formed a long procession and brought the statue of Sant'Anna, the patroness of Bosctrecase,[11]: 22  to avert the lava flow.

[11] The flow that aimed at Casavitelli and Annunziatella was diverted by Vallone Izzo, a valley immediately below town.

On 16 November 1924, a bronze Unknown Soldier statue was erected in Piazza Annuziatella to honor the dead of World War I.

The park is characterized by maritime pines, prickly pears, brooms and numerous types of orchids and epiphyllum which grow among grayish lava stones.

The most represented nationalities were:[14] As in the past, the main economic activities involve agriculture, wine production, and artisanal food processing.

Two paintings from 1749 by the Neapolitan painter Nicola Cacciapuoti are kept in the sacristy of the Ave Gratia Plena church.

The oldest (and most numerous) are sacred images painted on majolica, the most recent are simple frescoes or high reliefs.