In the Alife-Matese area excavations undertaken on various sites in modern Alife, prior to work for the completion of the municipal sewer system, provided new data regarding the extra-mural roads of Roman and post-antique date. Within the urban perimeter, on the Del Toro-Coluni property in an area known as the Quarto di S. Francesco, the existence of structures and materials of archaeological interest relating to the Roman residential quarters and road network had been documented on previous occasions. A trench, dug for in a rescue context, revealed short stretches of perimeter walls in opus caementicium preserved at foundation level. Patches of paving were also uncovered which probably belonged to the rooms of a domus, whose plan and chronology will only become clear as the investigation continues.

During excavations prior to the completion of the municipal sewer system substantial stretches of wall and of an imposing circular tower (diam. circa 9.00 m), belonging to the town’s medieval fortifications, came to light, along via Circumvallazione, in the proximity of the north-eastern tower of Alife castle. These structures abutted or incorporated part of the earlier Roman town walls. In particular, the medieval tower completely obliterated the semicircular buttress near the north-eastern corner of the Roman town wall. These finds provide important new information regarding Alife castle which had traditionally been dated to the Norman period.