The village of S. Egidio del Montealbino was part of the conurbation of
Nocera de’ Pagani that grew up in medieval and modern times; it stood at
one end of this, along the road leading to Angri e Stabia. The settlement,
with its characteristic spindle-shaped layout, stretches along the flank
of Monte Albino, at the foot of a natural amphitheatre comprising a spur
of the hill overlooking Pagani on the road leading to Corbara and towards
the Amalfi coast via the Chiunzi pass. The lower lying quarter of S.
Lorenzo lies on the road, which goes back to Roman times, linking Nocera
to Stabia.
The backbone of the historical centre is via Ferrajoli, from which
sideroads lead down into the plain and courtyards along the foot of the
hillside.
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If you arrive from the plain and S. Lorenzo, where you can visit the
parish church of S. Lorenzo, you enter the historical centre beside the 18th
century Church of S. Maria delle Grazie.
This is built along the road leading up to Chiunzi, giving onto the high
street lined with residences of the nobility, several of them endowed with
their private chapels, and humbler dwellings, built around courtyards.
Among the residences we should mention Palazzo
Ferrajoli ‘di mezzo’ which dominates the central section of
the high street.
At the end of the street, where it opens out into a square, stands the
complex of the Church of S. Maria
Maddalena in Armillis, now the parish church of S. Nicola, with
its bell tower in front and 16th century façade dominated by
the porch (with important works of art inside).
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Beyond the church you come to
piazza Ferrajoli, recently laid out, with an important Roman
fountain beside the church, readapted. Across the top of the
square stretches the broad façade of the other palazzo Ferrajoli, with a
Roman altar in its courtyard, found during excavations on this site.
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