10 things to visit in Cilento

The Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, south of the city of Salerno, is considered the second largest in all of Italy. It boasts an area of ​​24,000 square kilometers, on a vast territory that ranges from 100 km of the Tyrrhenian coast, up to extending inland, on the border with Basilicata, in the beautiful area of ​​Vallo di Diano. The etymology of the name derives from the Latin cis – alentum, ie on this side of the river Alento, one of the main rivers that cross part of the area. It is recognized as a Unesco heritage, above all thanks to the high level of biological diversity, strongly linked to the great geomorphological and climatic variety.

Cilento is a world to be discovered, made up of small villages, enchanting beaches and good food. It is no coincidence that the famous Mediterranean diet was born in this area, thanks to the American doctor and biologist Ancel Keys, who was able to stay in the small Cilento village of Pollica in the 1950s. It was here that he was able to conceive a lifestyle and a diet in line with the local one, based on fresh, genuine and healthy products, elaborating the famous "food pyramid". There are numerous festivals, events and traditions linked to good cooking, as well as religious and patron saint festivals that enliven the various villages, especially during the summer months. In this period many tourists decide to spend their holidays in a real corner of paradise.

The city of Elea represents one of the most important cultural attractions of Cilento. It was an ancient center of Magna Graecia located in today's municipality of Ascea Marina (Sa). Founded in the sixth century by the Phocaeans, navigators and merchants of Greek origin, it soon acquired great fame for the beauty of the places, the prosperity of the trades and, above all, for the presence of the very famous "Eleatic School", a philosophical academy with strong medical connotations , founded by the famous philosophers Parmenides and Zeno. Having become a Roman colony in the 1st century BC, the city is called Velia and will retain the right to mint its own currency, as well as that of maintaining the Greek language, customs and traditions. Under the emperor Augustus it experienced a period of considerable splendour, when public buildings, thermal complexes and numerous otia or rustic villas were built, linked to agricultural production and commerce. Following a silting up of the ports and the construction of the via Popilia, which will facilitate the passage towards the hinterland of the Vallo di Diano, the site will undergo a decisive impoverishment. In the early Christian age only the area of ​​the acropolis will survive, where a residential nucleus and a tower (still present) will be founded, linked to the defense of the sea front against the attacks of the Saracens. The visit to the site of Velia begins from the lower part, in the southern quarter, where the ancient paved road, the thermal building with the beautiful floor mosaic and a monumental complex linked to the god of medicine Asklepios are still visible. The passage to the northern quarter, which takes place through a short but steep climb, is characterized by the presence of the splendid Porta Rosa, a vaulted stone structure.

Declared UNESCO heritage site in 1998, it is the largest Certosa in Italy, thanks to the immense large cloister which occupies an area of ​​over 12,000 square meters. Founded in 1306 by Tommaso Sanseverino, Count of Marsico and constable of King Robert of Anjou, he granted the newly built monastic order to the Carthusians. That of Padula was the second Charterhouse built on Italian territory, shortly after the foundation of Serra San Bruno, in Calabria, commissioned by the same founding father of the religious order, San Brunone.
The structure of the Certosa recalls, with its rooms and external cloisters, the shape of the grill, in memory of the instrument of martyrdom linked to the figure of San Lorenzo. The complex unfolds in various environments, starting with the lower house, with an adjoining apothecary and service areas. These spaces were used by lay brothers, who mainly dealt with manual work and with the more practical aspects related to the life of the monastery. The lower house leads to the upper house, a place frequented almost exclusively by the fathers, who respected a rigorous seclusion. In the upper house there is the ancient church, with a fourteenth-century portal in cedar wood from Lebanon, the ancient cloister, the refectory with the beautiful majolica kitchen, and the large cloister with the various cells and the prior's quarters.
The entire complex is a triumph of artistic treasures, ranging over a period of over seven hundred years, up to the complete suppression of the order, which took place after the unification of Italy.

Legendarily connected to the helmsman of Enea Palinuro, this enchanting Cilento town is famous for its marvelous caves, beaches and small ravines, to be observed mainly from the sea, perhaps with a nice boat trip organized by the various cooperatives and local companies.
The Blue Grotto is the best-known cavity of the entire complex of caves in the Capo Palinuro area. Its name derives from the singular effect produced by the blue color which, coming from the seabed, illuminates the entire internal environment, making it particularly suggestive. This effect is generated by an underwater sidon, which lets the sunlight penetrate from the bottom of the cave, emerging from the opposite side of Punta della Quaglia. On the south side of the coast of Palinuro there are other promontories, cavities and natural arches, such as "l'Architiello", a real spectacle of nature generated by the natural erosion of the rock caused by wind and salt. Continuing on, you come across the famous "rock of the rabbit", whose shape, seen in the right perspective, recalls the animal of the same name. Worthy of note is certainly the Bay of Good Sleep, a ravine nestled among the rocks, of indescribable beauty and accessible only from the sea. For those wishing to admire the beauties of Palinuro by land, the fantastic paths and trekking routes cannot be missed, among which the primrose path stands out, named in this way due to the presence of the famous Palinuro primrose, a rare specimen of yellow with a white interior, which flourishes along the entire coast.

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In 2007 it was declared one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. The small village of Castellabate is perched on a hill, about 280 m above sea level. As soon as you arrive in the village, from the belvedere you can enjoy a splendid panorama that ranges from the hills of Agropoli up to the Amalfi coast and the island of Capri. The history of the small village began with the abbot of the Badia di Cava Costabile Gentilcore, who had a fortification built to defend the territory from the continuous sieges of Saracen pirates. This would explain the etymology of the name of the village, which made the abbot famous, who later became patron and protector of the village.
The town has certainly become famous for the film "Benvenuti al sud", an enormously successful Italian comedy filmed in 2009, which allowed us to show the territory of Castellabate and the adjoining coastal hamlet of Santa Maria, to the point of attracting even today many visitors and onlookers to discover the famous feature lengths of the film, such as the beautiful and famous "piazzetta" where the post office was set.

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Of great tourist and naturalistic interest, the caves of Castelcivita are located in the massif of the Alburni Mountains and are also known as the Spartacus caves. This name derives from the phantom presence of the well-known gladiator, according to a legend which sees in that very place the scene of a battle held between the Roman militias and the rebels led by Spartacus, during the third servile war. Other names by which these cavities are known are the caves of the devil or Grotte Principe di Piemonte (in honor of Umberto II of Savoy who visited them at the end of 1932). The caves are one of the largest underground areas in southern Italy. Visitors will be able to choose between different itineraries, ranging from tourist to amateur speleological. The first, which can be covered in about an hour, extends over 1200 m. The system of underground cavities looks like a suggestive scenario made up of tunnels, sinkholes and bottlenecks formed following the phenomenon of karst erosion of the limestone rock. Remarkable is the presence of stalactites and stalagmites, with various and imaginative shapes, which are encountered along the itinerary, developed over the centuries in enormous quantities throughout the underground cavity.

This small village represents a real unicum of its kind. The first inhabited center of which we know of arose around a Benedictine monastery, on which a small group of houses and buildings subsequently developed. Currently the old Roscigno is a "ghost" village, as it was abandoned in the last century, due to the continuous landslides. Begun in the 16th century, they forced the location of the village to be moved several times. Today the town of Roscigno Nuova is located about 2 km away, while the uninhabited village has retained the charm and mystery of a deserted place, where time seems to have literally stopped. Roscigno can almost be considered as a "Pompeii of the twentieth century", as it was defined by the journalist of the Mattino Onorato Volzone, when in 1982 he discovered the village and promoted a renewed valorisation of a site with a strong touristic and cultural potential. Indeed, once you enter this open-air museum, you come across very ancient buildings, such as the church of San Nicola, which dates back to the eighteenth century, the square, the fountain and the ancient houses with the annexed shops.
Among the various structures there is only one and only "surviving" inhabitant, Mr. Giuseppe Spagnuolo, a singular and extravagant character who does not seem to be willing to leave his village, to which he feels strongly and inextricably linked.

Acciaroli is a small and delightful seaside village which, together with Pioppi, forms the municipality of Pollica. For several years, together with other Cilento villages, it has obtained the 5 sails of Legambiente and the blue flag for the quality of its beaches and crystal clear waters. This feature is certainly the winning business card for making the village a tourist destination, which has favored a clear increase in visitors, especially in the spring and summer periods.
The beaches of Acciaroli are among the most beautiful in the area and, not surprisingly, in the past they also attracted people of a certain prominence. Not everyone knows that the village hosted for a time the famous Ernest Hemingway, author of "The Old Man and the Sea", who chose this destination as a model of inspiration for writing one of his most famous novels. It was during his stay, following a long trip to the beautiful country, that he was able to get in touch with the local culture, especially that linked to the world of the sea and fishermen. An important role was played by the contact with a local fisherman, Antonio Masarone, with whom he formed a strong friendship. Antonio Masarone was able to listen to the stories and the passion for the world of the sea that provided the ideal starting point for many passages contained in the book.

Located about 600 meters above sea level, it stands on a hill overlooking the entire Vallo di Diano.Teggiano is also known as the town of 13 churches, testifying to the splendor and flourishing period that this small town experienced during the Middle Ages. Due to the vast artistic, historical and cultural offer it offers, a visit to the village can range from connecting different visit itineraries. The cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, built at the end of the 13th century at the behest of Carlo D'Angiò, is an extraordinary combination of faith and art. Its interior houses numerous artistic treasures from different periods, such as the beautiful tombs of the princes Tommaso and Enrico Sanseverino, created by the famous sculptor Tino da Camaino. Also interesting is the beautiful pulpit, fruit of the genius of Melchiorre da Montalbano. Noteworthy is certainly the obelisk of San Cono, protector and patron saint of Teggiano. Not far from the main square, overlooks the beautiful Macchiaroli castle, which once belonged to the prestigious Sanseverino family. It was within its walls that the noble Antonello Sanseverino plotted the famous conspiracy of the barons against the king of Naples Ferrante I of Aragon.
One of the most awaited and famous events of the place is the medieval festival called "At the table of Princess Costanza". It is one of the most beautiful and well-kept historical re-enactments in Italy. A three-day event in the second week of August, which ranges between shows, fairs and tastings of typical dishes. The event begins with a parade in period costumes, to commemorate the marriage between Costanza di Montefeltro, daughter of Federico Conte di Montefeltro and Duke of Urbino, and the Prince of Salerno Antonello Sanseverino.