A brief journey into history and environment of this beautiful part of south-Italy.

While editing this section of the website I try to imagine taking my visitors by the hand and offer them a tour which will not only bring life into the past, into times sad at others glorious, but in the life of people inhabiting the impressive and enchanting coast of the south-Italian region named “Cilento”. I want to also describe my visitors, that the present is constantly growing and progressing while keeping pace with the passing of time. I would like to stop from time to time while admiring some of the countless natural sceneries, myriads of wonderful panoramic views of large pine woods or reefs of rocks, take a look into crystal clear water, into vast olive groves sloping gently down on the Mediterranean coast and transmit the beauty of the innumerable beaches which in summer awake from the hibernation and welcome thousands of holiday makers from all over the world.

The itinerary of this virtual journey sets out from Salerno, capital of this south-Italian province, situated in the bay named after it. Over the centuries it was in turn a Roman, Byzantine, Langobard, Norman, Suevian and Angevin city and was then ruled by the Durazzo family, the viceroys of the Bourbon dynasty, the House of Savoy, and, eventually, the Italian republic government. Viewing the city from the Highway ( Autostrada del Sole ) we can clearly distinguish its medieval core punctuated by highlights as the superb Cathedral built by Guiscard with its sober architectural structures wit its Romanesque bell tower from the 12 th. Century and the water works built by the Normans. Right on top of the hill stands the castle of Arechi built in the 8 th. Century which is at present being thoroughly restored. In its ample halls and rooms art exhibitions, concerts and meetings of international importance take place. Slipping out of the historical beauties of the past to the fullest, your eyes should be confronted with the modern Salerno of the 20 th. Century.

On the 9 th. of September 1943, Operation Avalanche nearby Salerno took place. It was part of the Allied invasion of Italy. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area heavily defended by German troops. The landings were carried out by the US Fifth Army under Command of U.S. Army General Mark W. Clark. This operation comprised the U.S. Sixth Corps, the British 10 th. Corps and the U.S. 82nd. Airborne Division. The landings were carried out without previous naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise. This surprise was less than total however. As the first wave approached the shore at Paestum a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English, "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The troops attacked nonetheless. Salerno and the Cilento got free in these days in September 1943! In addition the city hosted 1943 the King of Italy who escaped at that time from Rome, while the Italian government negotiated peace with the Allies. 

Salerno has two ports, one of them is a big shipment port in which cruise liners to and from Malta, Valencia, Tunis and Palermo arrive, the other is a tourist port. In the Region Campania the three major and deepest ports are 1 st. Naples, 2 nd. Salerno and 3 rd. Agropoli. Salerno hosted the oldest university in Europe, the Schuola Medica Salernitana source of medical knowledge in Europe in the early middle ages. The University Institute of Magistero "Giovanni Cuomo", founded in 1944, received, therefore, the distinguished heritage of an ancient tradition. Since 1968, when the University of Salerno became public, the enrolments have increasingly grown. Today the two campuses of Fisciano and Baronissi take in over 40.000 students attending the wide range of subjects offered by the 9 Faculties: Economics, Pharmaceutics, Law, Engineering, Humanities, Foreign Languages, Political Science, Natural Science, Mathe-matics and Physics and Education Science. Modern Salerno has an enchanting sea-front promenade, luxurious flowered gardens and a big commercial centre. The city of Salerno stretches down to the very border with the little town Pontecagnano. Driving south we leave Salerno and reach Fratte, a little town which can boast of a necropolis and of some remains from Roman times. Fratte was the seat of the earliest Italian government after it had been freed in World War II.

We leave Salerno behind us and drive fast along an amazing road, which we leave at Battipaglia. We exit from the Highway and while opening the window, we start smelling a different air. Following the roundabout traffic, we take the direction of the SS18 towards Agropoli / Palinuro / Sapri. We reach after a 20 min drive the city which the Greek named “Poseidonia” and the Romans renamed” Paestum”. In Paestum we visit the Basilica from the 6.th cent. B.C. with its 50 fifty archaic columns whose extant bare lintel reminds us of Druid monuments.

The basilica is a Doric temple from the 6th century B.C., Italy's oldest temple from the ruins of the Hellenic world. The basilica is characterized by 9 Doric pillars in front and 18 on the sides (they're about 1.5m/5 ft. in diameter). The walls and ceiling long ago gave way to decay. Animals were sacrificed to the gods on the altar. The Temple of Neptune is the most impressive of the Greek ruins at Paestum. Together with the Temple of Hephaestus ("Theseum") in Athens, they remain the best-preserved Greek temples in the world, both from around 450 to 420 B.C. Six columns in front are crowned by an entablature, and there are 14 columns on each side. The Temple of Ceres, from the 6th century B.C., has 34 columns still standing and a large altar for sacrifices to the gods.

The temple zone is open daily 9am to sunset.

You can visit the National Archaeological Museum of Paestum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum), Via Magna Grecia 917 (tel. 0828-811023), across from the Ceres Temple. It displays the metopes removed from the treasury of the Temple of Hera (Juno) and some of southern Italy's finest tomb paintings from the 4th century B.C. The Diver's Tomb is an extraordinary example of painting from the first half of the 5th century B.C. The museum is open daily 9am to 7pm (it's closed the 1st and 3rd Mon of every month). Admission is 4€, but there is also a cumulative ticket, which includes the museum and the archaeological area, for 6.50€.

New discoveries have revealed hundreds of Greek tombs, which have yielded many Greek paintings. Archaeologists have called the finds astonishing. In addition, other excavated tombs were found to contain clay figures in a strongly Impressionistic vein.

When the Greek settlers began the construction of the great temples in stone at Paestum, 570 B.C. (at that time the city was founded under the name of Poseidonia) the building system they used was a “trilith system “.This system, which dates back to its origins in the early days of this world, while reaching its height during the times of the ancient Egyptians is called trilith because it consists essentially of three stones: two large stones set upright to support a third on their top. In Greek Temples the upright members – columns, consists of several superimposed blocks of varying height and a capital one which takes uniform shape for all the columns. Placed on top of the columns, the horizontal panel is invariably a monolithic oblong block, on which top all other parts of the structure rest. The average weight of these great blocks from which the column were built is around 2.000 to 2.500 kilos which is 4.400 to 5.500 pounds/lb per stone. The blocks of the oblong lintel are even more impressive: 3.000 kilos or 6.600 pounds/lb per single stone. The transportation of these stones from the quarries to the building yards could have been done with the help of draught-animals or a few pairs of oxen, while the raising of these massive of a few meters could have posed greater problems.

Paestum is surrounded by a circuit of nearly intact walls. The perimeter is a 4750 Meter long polygon that follows the contours of the travertin base. It comprises a double curtain of large, erath filled squared blocks and towers along the perimeters. The four main gates are located at the cardinal points and there are 45 smaller gates known as posterulae that served for accessing the city and for defensive puroposes.

The Temple of Neptune is the best preserved of all surviving temples built during the era of Magna Grecia, as the Greek colonies were called. The name of Neptun was given because it was believed, that the largest temple of the city must have been dedicated to the god Poseidon-Neptune. Please click on the image to enlarge.

The tomb of the Diver was discovered on June 13.th 1968 one and a half kilometers further south of Paestum in an area known as Tempa del Prete, where several other greek tombs had already been found. A machine hit a block of rock and revealed four tombs, the last one entirely frescoed. The outstanding nature of the discovery was immediately obvious, it was the greek funerary tomb with wall paintings. Please click on the image to enlarge.

In conclusion: Agropoli is the perfect spot to discover all beauties of the region Campania while the necessary steps have been taken to try and arouse the interest in the reader about the beauty of this pristine area and landscape called Cilento. Please understand, that it would be a nearly impossible mission to write about the Cilento and Campania area in full details and I am entirely convinced that the vistor of my beautiful home region Cilento will find satisfaction regarding culture, sea and food to the fullest. The Cilento Coast is a territory that the Italians have kept too long for themselves. It is time to present it to the world. Experience it with discovery-agropoli.

Yours

Raffaele Abate