Cilento

The Cilento area is located in the Campania region (Province of Salerno), in southern Italy. In 1991, significant portions of the territory of the National Park ( National Park of Cilento and Vallo di Diano ), declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Geography

With approximately 100 km of coastline, mountains and 200 small, mostly medieval villages: Between Paestum in the north, Sapri in the south and the Diano Valley in the east, the charming Cilento area extends. The highest point is Mount Cervati ( 1,898 m) in the center of the Cilento. The northeastern part of the Cilento form the Alburni, steep karst cliffs, which are 1,742 m high in the Monte Panormo. The southwest is dominated scenically by the massif of Monte Bulgheria ( 1,225 m).

Unofficial capital of the Cilento Vallo della Lucania. Famous beach resorts are Agropoli, Palinuro, Marina di Camerota and Ascea.

History

As early as the Stone Age, the Cilento region was inhabited, as evidenced by cave finds. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, the coast of the Cilento region was colonized by Greeks. At the mouth of the Seles still bear witness to those " clumsy, tapered columns, almost invasive, if not frightening " - as Goethe wrote during his trip to Italy in 1787 - from important ancient past: Three of the best-preserved, 2,500 -year-old Greek temples in Paestum form 1 ½ hours drive south of Naples, the graceful gateway to the Cilento. In Velia, which was founded in 540 BC by Greeks Phocaean, there was a well-known school of philosophy.

As the whole coast of the Cilento is the Cape Palinuro an important site of Greek mythology: According to Virgil, Aeneas sailed through the oceans and saw on this coast for the first time Italy. However, his fellow Palinurus fell asleep at the wheel of one, fell overboard and had to be buried by Aeneas on the beach. This shipwrecked tax man owes the Cape its name.

Many of the Greek settlements were taken over in the 3rd century BC by the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the region of the Goths, Byzantines, Saracens, Lombards dominated. In the 11th and 12th centuries the Benedictines had a large influence in the region, where she managed large estates. As a result, the region as large parts of southern Italy was under the Norman, Hohenstaufen and then finally angiovinischer rule.

In 1552, the region was attacked by Turks. In this attack, the castle of Camerota was almost completely destroyed. As a result, the Spanish Viceroys of Naples built from the coastal defense. From this time many of the extant today Coast Guard towers date.

In the 19th century it also came in Cilento rebellions against the Bourbons. The widespread poverty meant that many residents migrated to South America or in the United States.

In the 1990s, the proposal to establish a sixth independent province Cilento in the Campania region, was discussed intensively. At issue was the question of which city would be the capital of the new province. Candidates were Vallo della Lucania, Agropoli, Sala Consilina and Sapri. At the beginning of the 21st century, the possibility has been discussed that the Cilento could move from Campania as the third province in the region of Basilicata.