Afragola

Afragola is an important city of southern Italy. It is situated in Campania, the same region as Naples, between the territories corresponding to the ancient cities of Acerra and Atella. It's one of the 100 biggest Italian cities (the ones which have a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants), and with its size of just 18 km² also one of the most dense.

The city is administrated mainly by the homonymous commune (of whom territory borders on the municipalities of Acerra, Casalnuovo di Napoli, Caivano, Cardito and Casoria) and for a little part by the communes of Cardito, Casalnuovo di Napoli and Casoria, all belonging the province of Napoli. As of the 2001 census, the commune Afragola had a population of 65,187, but the real estimated population is about 100,000 (including the areas of the city administrated by other communes).

Famous for its St. Anthony's basilica (former sanctuary), that made it well-known as the "Padua of the South", Afragola has the biggest commercial area of the whole Italy, with several megastores, a multiplex and more than 100 shops in the eastern periphery of the city. It's also known as the city of the churches, because has a lot of Catholic churches belonging to 11th to 19th century, and has the biggest historical center of the region after Naples.

In the project of the new high-speed railway between Turin and Naples, in Afragola will be built one of the three most important stations of Europe (the other two are in Bologna and Munich), designed by Zaha Hadid.