thumb|right|250px|[[Maddalena lunatic asylum complex, built for the care of mentally ill]]
thumb|right|250px|Santa Maria a Piazza Church
Aversa () is a city and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the Agro Aversano, producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical buffalo mozzarella). Aversa is also the main seat of the faculties of Architecture and Engineering of the Università degli studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" (Campania University "L. Vanvitelli"). With a population of 52,974 (2017),
It is located in a fertile coastal plain north of Naples, thus serving as a market for agricultural products to the city. The plain on which it sits was known in ancient Roman times as the Campania Felix.
History
thumb|left|120px|Norman relief of St. George and the Dragon in the Duomo reflects its Scandinavian precedents via Norman culture.
Prehistory
Archaeological sites excavated near Aversa have revealed human presence in the area since the Neolithic period. Some say that the founding of the ancient city took place with the Etruscans. One of the first bishops was the Norman Guitmund (died c. 1090–95), a Benedictine monk, theologian, and opponent of Berengar of Tours.
The count of Aversa, Richard I, was one of the chief leaders in the struggle against the Papal forces which culminated in the Battle of Civitella del Fortore (1053) in Beneventan territory; even Pope Leo IX himself was captured at what turned into a rout in favour of the Normans. The astute Richard did not treat the pope as a prisoner, however, but escorted him back to Rome with full honours, a gesture that led to the conciliation of the Normans with the Church, the lifting of the ban of excommunication that had been laid upon Aversa.
Angevins
After the Norman dynasty Aversa declined in importance: the Angevin kings of Naples came to Aversa mostly to hunt and hold court in the citadel, of which a few traces remain in via Roma in Aversa's historic centre. In particular Queen Joanna I chose Aversa for her preferred seat. There a group of nobles threw her husband Andrew from a window with a rope around his neck. His brother, King Louis I of Hungary, head of the Capetian House of Anjou, marched into Italy and at Aversa took his vengeance at a banquet of reconciliation, as Joanna escaped to Avignon.
The presence of the court also benefitted Aversa by the institution of the Real Casa dell'Annunziata (about 1315) an orphanage and hospice that occupied a central place in Aversan public life.
Crown of Aragon
When Alfonso V of Aragon permanently enthroned the kingdom of Naples within the domains of the Crown of Aragon, Aversa continued to maintain the privileges it had enjoyed. Soon the epidemics and subdivisions of land caused it to be relegated as a peripheral urban center of Naples. In fact, the palace of the Count of Almenara in Almenara (Castellón) is also known as the palace of the Count of Aversa.
Demographics
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Gastronomy
Aversa DOC
Italian wine, both white and sparkling, under the Aversa DOC appellation comes from this area. Grapes destined for DOC product must be harvested to a maximum yield of 14 tonnes/hectare with the finished wines fermented to a minimum alcohol level of 10.5% for still and 11% for the spumante style.
The primary grape variety of the region is the Asprinio which must constitute at least 85% of the wines, with other local white grape varieties, such as Fiano, Trebbiano and Greco permitted to fill in the remainder. Viticulture in Aversa is unique for its use of growing the grapevines with poplar trees acting as trellises. This traditional method of trellising means that almost all harvesting is done by hand.