Salerno

«Another drawing was born in the evening from the windows of Salerno and it will spare me every description of a delightful and very fertile land. Who wouldn't have been willing to study in this town when a university flourished there? "

(Wolfgang Goethe)

Salerno is an ancient city, a Roman colony founded in 197 BC, in the center of a large sea gulf narrowed by mountains. Naples is fifty kilometers away by motorway, Paestum and the Cilento coast extend towards the south, and to the north there is the magnificent Amalfi coast.

Salerno had a prosperous life as a Roman colony, then in the Early Middle Ages, after the Byzantine period, under the Lombards it became a Principality, rich in commercial traffic and cultural prestige. The Medical School was founded here, the first European scientific institution, the basis of future universities.The Lombard and then Norman periods in the 11th century were the richest and most important of the city, famous as Opulent Salernum, capital of the South, before the Norman conquest of Sicily. In the 11th century, the most beautiful and important monument in the city was built: the majestic cathedral.

In the following centuries the city was still important for medical studies: Frederick II gave it the privilege of awarding degrees already in the 13th century. It then had ups and downs, crushed by its proximity to Naples, which became the capital under the Angevins, but it still had cultural glory, St. Thomas taught there, Masuccio Salernitano - the greatest Italian novelist in the 15th century - set many stories there, Bernardo Tasso stayed at court there of the splendid Prince Sanseverino, and here, perhaps, his son Torquato was born. In the eighteenth century it had a new moment of prestige and prosperity, and the magnificent palaces and some monuments that still adorn it date back to that time. In the nineteenth century it participated in the Risorgimento movements, and was embellished with gardens and public buildings and became one of the most important industrial centers in the South, thanks to its cotton factories, mills and pasta factories.

In the twentieth century it was the scene of the landing of the Allies in 1943 and for a few months it was the seat of the Government and the capital of Italy.

Today it is a lively city, full of cultural initiatives, embellished with works by great star architects, with a historic center that preserves traces of its rich past.

The province of Salerno lacks nothing: sea, art and culture, an urban center rich in history and services, food and traditions. And, if you want, also mountains: the Alburni chain presents a set of splendid mountain resources. But the Lattari Mountains, those of the Amalfi Coast, also have mountain paths of absolute interest and suitable for Sunday walkers and expert hikers. Paths that can also be followed in winter and autumn: the Sentiero deli Dei, between Agerola and Positano, is a magnificent experience, with a tiring but easy excursion, with the most beautiful panorama in the world. Worthy of the Gods, indeed.