Excavations at Nola-Croce del Papa have uncovered extensive evidence of a small village quickly abandoned at the time of the Avellino Eruption in the 17th century BC.

This powerful eruption from Mount Vesuvius caused the inhabitants to leave behind a wide range of pottery and other artefacts.

[4] Under Roman rule during Hannibal's invasion of Italy amid the Second Punic War, the city was the site of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battles of Nola.

The discoveries of the pavement of the ancient city have not been noted with sufficient care to recover most of the plan, but a large number of Grecian vases were made at Nola, using its fine yellow clay and a shining black glaze.

[9] His small handbells were subsequently known as nolas for his seat and the larger tower bells as campanas from the surrounding area.

The 1460 Battle of Nola is noteworthy for the clever stratagem by which John, duke of Calabria, defeated Ferdinand, king of Naples, who fled the field with only 20 followers.

With his wife Isabella successfully wooing John's major supporters away, the king recovered his domain over the next decade.

A 2004 study by Alfredo Mazza published in The Lancet Oncology revealed that deaths by cancer in the area are much higher than the European average.

[10] Other Roman ruins, including a temple to Augustus, survived as long as the 16th century, they were then plundered for building material and few signs remain.

The podium was faced with sheets of white marble elaborately carved with scenes and finished at the top with a balustrade with the same stone.

The eruption of Vesuvius in the early 6th century and the subsequent flood partially buried the building and saved some of it for posterity, including marble in the process of being carried away.

The Festival of the Lilies (Festa dei Gigli) is held on 22 June or the Sunday beforehand, honouring St Paulinus.

On the last day of the festival, the huge lilies are carried through the town on residents' shoulders along a route that has been followed for more than a thousand years.