Nola

Nola lies on the broad, fertile Campanian plain northeast of Naples, beneath the mountains and within sight of Vesuvius. An ancient city of the region, it retained its place among the historic towns of the Kingdom of Naples. Its churches and streets were the setting in which Giordano Bruno, later known as the Nolan, was born in 1548.

Bruno entered the Dominican order but left Italy and travelled through much of Europe. In his writings he argued for an infinite universe containing innumerable worlds, as well as developing a philosophy of nature. Arrested by the Venetian Inquisition in 1592 and sent to Rome, he was condemned for heresy and executed in 1600. His name carried that of his native town far beyond Campania.