Parco del Cilento
The first human settlements date back to the Mid-Palaeolithic era, continue throughout the Neolithic era right up to the Copper Age. Evidence of these antique cultures is found in their traces both in the coastal caves between Palinuro and Scario as well as inland along the mountain ridges like Grotte di Castelcivita, and in the valley of Diana at Pertosa and the Grotte dell’Angelo.
The sacrificial altars and stone sculptures along the routes from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian seas like Antece dei monti Alburni, bear witness to the Bronze Age.
Around the 17th century BC, the Greeks landed on the coasts of Cilento and made their way inland to join the Achei people who formed the city of Poseidonia. Later by sea they joined the Focei people of Asia Minor who founded Velia and Porta Rosa.
During the 4th century BC, the Romans used this area for trade and business but, the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (6th century AD) saw the start of a long period of domination by barbarians: Visigoths, Goths, Longobards and continuous attacks by Saracens. This meeting of cultures led to great architectural and artistic works like Pattano Abbey with the Chapel of S Filadelfo and the frescoes of the Basiliana Chapel in Lentiscosa. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the territory was split up between nobles who brought savagery and cruelty to the land.
Cilento has a varied and complex structure.
Around the Alento river basin and at the highest points of the Eastern Cilento range (e.g. Monte Centaurino) there is a type of rock called “Flysch del Cilento”. The Flysch on the upper coastlines feature dense layering which in turn have particular colouring (in the area of Ripe Rosse or on the marine terrace in Punta Licosa). These create a softness to the surrounding countryside that already luxuriates in dense Mediterranean vegetation.
Limestone rocks are to be found around the mountain ranges to the interior and in the Southern extremes of the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano. The karst-form landscape lies on rugged slopes.
There are about 1,800 species of local plants many of which are indigenous or rare. The most important of these is the Primula di Palinuro that is also the Park’s symbol. As the park developed, the plants took root in every little niche including man-made ones and now show the full splendour of the bio-diversity of nature.
The dry Mediterranean zone is the realm of the macchia mediterranea that extends all over the region including the coast alongside the olive groves and evergreen forests.
At high altitudes and inland there are: oaks, maples, limes, elms, ash and chestnut trees; at even higher altitudes, beech trees cover the mountain slopes. Higher again are the famed and very rare Crespino dell’Etna. More common plant life like the birch tree, white fir and boxwood is to be found in abundance.
Given the wide diversity of flora in the park, it comes as no surprise that the fauna is equally varied and abundant.
Royal eagles soar above the mountain tops and feed on Apennine hares and partridges. From an ecological point of view, the presence of these two species is immensely important as they represent an indigenous Apennine species that is by now virtually extinct throughout most of the territory. A few of the other predators in the area are the Peregrine falcon, the chough and the lanner. Wolves, foxes and martens are found in the pastures and share their habitat with such different species as the Wall lizard and the Luscengola. Nuthatches, finches and northern goshawks live in the beechwood forests. Among the mammals we find the dormouse while the yellow-necked mouse and field mouse representing some of the rodent population. A very rare insect is to be found on the bark of some trees: the coleottero Rosalia Alpina (beetle).
Aquatic life is also abundant in the streams and rivers and includes such species as the rare spotted salamander, trout and the dipper bird.
Paestum and Velia
Paestum
Paestum
Paestum is a small Capaccio village, and is home to possibly one of Italy’s most important Greek colonial archaeological sites. Paestum was founded in the 6th century by the Achei people as a seaport. The town fell to a local tribe, the Lucani followed by a period of occupation by the Greeks and with the Roman colonisation, became a military stronghold. The town was destroyed by the Saracens in 887 and so began a period of decline.
The polygon-shaped city walls of the ancient Greek colony almost completely surround Paestrum. There were four great gates leading into the city. Just looking at the remains, we can have a fairly clear idea of how the Greek colony was built. There was a forum, and there were complete urban sectors as well as many religious buildings but especially temples of which there were three. The Temple of Hera, The Temple of Ceres and The Temple of Neptune. To the Northeast lie the remains of the Capitolium of the ancient Roman city.
Velia
Velia
Originally known as Elea, was founded in 540 BC along the Tyrrhenian coast of Lucania by the Focesi from Corsica.. They settled there after defeating the Etruscan and Carthaginian armadas.
After the destruction of the Greek colony of Sybari on the Ionic Gulf, Velia was home to the philosophers Paramenides and his pupil Zeno. The city fought against neighbouring Poseidonia, the Lucani and in 389 became part of the Lega Italiota; it also later helped Rome fight against Hannibal. The city was destroyed between the 8th and 9th centuries AD by the Saracens. There are three distinct areas in the city: the Southern sector that was the centre of political power, the Northern sector, near the river mouth and the acropolis that was the oldest residential area in Elea. The roads are still paved and are kept in good condition. In the past, public and religious buildings lined the headland. The remnants of an Ionic temple and a 3rd century theatre still remain.
Certosa di Padula
Certosa di Padula
Certosa was founded in 1306 by Tommaso S. Severino, lord of all the Valley of Diano, who created the Carthusian order.
It is one of the biggest monasteries in the world. Originally, Certosa di San Lorenzo, it was called “di Padula” after its neighbouring town. The building is typically Carthusian: The Carthusian brethren slept in cells located high above the courtyards and they led a rigorous and harsh life. Below them, the lay brothers had the responsibility of looking after relationships with local communities, administering the order’s estate and managing agricultural and handcraft activities.
History, art and culture
Salerno
Located along the coast between Amalfi and Cilento, Salerno has had a rich and varied history.
The Greeks first introduced the planting of orchards, olives and the cultivation of crops. After 197 (B C) it became a Roman colony and was under Longobard domination during the middle ages.
In 786, to avoid obeisance to Charlemagne, Arechi II moved the ducal seat from Benevento to Salerno with the aim of controlling an area of strategic importance. City defences were already imposing and included the walled and turreted castle on the nearby Bonadies hill when he had them strengthened and very soon, Salerno became the capital of a principality as well as a seat of political power. The Scuola Medica, Europe’s oldest medical school was also founded there.
It was however with the Normans and Roberto il Guiscardo in particular, that Salerno was at its greatest (11th – 12th centuries). The Duomo and the reggia Castel Terracena are from this period but the Scuola Medica became ever-more important.
An economic revival came towards the mid-12th century with the Swabian occupation; about this time, construction began on the docklands at the behest of Manfred, son of Frederick II..
After the 14th century, the Sanseverino family, the most powerful feudal lords in the South of Italy gained the upper hand. They brought with them to Salerno, the most cultured of men and the greatest of artists. In the 16th century, the last of the Sanseverino family entered in conflict with the Spanish colonialist government and between 1656 and 1694, Salerno was repeatedly struck by plague and earthquakes. Thus began the darkest period in Salerno’s history which would only see light towards the end of the 18th century with the collapse of Spanish colonial rule.
In 1799, the city became part of the Parthenopean Republic and during that Napoleonic period the Scuola Medica was closed as were the properties of all religious orders. From this moment onwards, the area outside the city walls began a new period of expansion that continued after the Unification of Italy and up to WW II.
In 1943, Salerno witnessed the Allied landings and in 1944 was the seat of the Badoglio government.
Nowadays, the city has three distinct zones: the mediaeval sector on the hill slopes that grew along the trading routes and the modern area that has two parts to it. The 19th century sector with its neat and ordered lines and then the post-war area with its chaotic, overcrowded buildings.
Salerno economics are based on agriculture and industry (the textile, mechanical, food, woodworking and ceramics industries). Situated as it is, sandwiched between two fabulous coastlines (Amalfi and Cilento), it also forms an important part of the transport network.
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archaeological sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
Inscription N° 842 1998 C (iii) (iv)
UNESCO INSCRIPTION
Criterion C (iii): During the prehistoric period, and again in the Middle Ages, the Cilento region served as a key route for cultural, political, and commercial communications in an exceptional manner, utilizing the crests of the mountain chains running east-west and thereby creating a cultural landscape of outstanding significance and quality.
Criterion C (iv): In two key episodes in the development of human societies in the Mediterranean region, the Cilento area provided the only viable means of communication between the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian seas, in the central Mediterranean region, and this is vividly illustrated by the relict cultural landscape of today.
