Villa Dupont-Frajasse in Pollena Trocchia

Pollena Trocchia is an Italian town of about 13,000 inhabitants in the province of Naples, in Campania; this territory is part of the Vesuvius National Park. The village was originally divided into two parts: Pollena and Trocchia, both of Etruscan, Samnite and Oscan origins. These are populations who settled on the slopes of Vesuvius because they were attracted by the fertility and climate of the area. The two villages housed the nobles of the neighboring districts, until in 1631 they were destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius: from that moment Trocchia was a center of lesser importance than Pollena, until in 1811, through a reform, they merged into a single municipality. One of its most important monuments is the Villa Dupont-Frajasse, inhabited by the homonymous family, which occupies an important position in the Trocchia territory. It is accessed through a splendid park enriched by an avenue with a lake and numerous statues. Charles Frajasse, around 1850, established a silk industry there, having a building built a few meters away for the breeding of silk banks.