Cilento - Medieval Bridge

Cilento is known to be an outstanding cultural location. It has a large group of settlements and sanctuaries along its mountain ridges which vividly portray evolution of history of the region. It was an important route not just for trade, but also for political and cultural reasons during the medieval periods. Cilento was also known to be the boundary between the colonies of Etruscan people and Magna Graecia. The ruins of two main cities from the ancient times, Veila and Paestum are located in the region which have been included in the list of world heritage sites since 1998.

The Vallo di Diano and Cilento National Park

The Vallo di Diano and Cilento National Park was set up in 1991. It is located in the Salerno province and includes mostly Vallo di Diano and Cilento regions.

The park had been officially set up to protect the region of Cilento from mass tourism. There are also a few natural reserves included within the park including a maritime reserve and the Oasis of Persano.

The territory of the national park is known to be one of the largest in Italy. It includes all the municipalities of the Vallo di Diano and the Cilenot areas. It also includes almost the entire Cilentan Coast and the Pruno forest. The main administrative office of the natural park is located in Vallo della Lucania.

 
Italian Parks - Cilento, a paradise of nature.

The archeological areas covered in the National Park are as listed below:

Paestum - Greek temples

Paestum

Paestum is the Roman name which was given to an important Roman-Graeco city in the region of Campania in the ancient times. It is situated north of the Cilento 85 km from Naples in the Salerno province. It belongs to the Capaccio comune.

History of Paestum

The city had been founded in 7th century BC by colonists from the Sybaris city of Greece. It was originally known as Poseidonia. Apart from the evidences that have been found during the archeological excavations in the area, not much information has been found about the city during its early existence. Archaeological proofs suggest that the city been expanding with the building of temples and roads.

The architecture, figurines and coinage that were found in the region suggest that it might have been closely related to Metaponto in the 6^th century. The first references to the city were made only in 5^th century BC, when it was believed that Lucani had conquered the city. Scholars believe that there might have been two main cultures Oscan and Greek that were co-existing. It later became Paestrum, the Roman city in 273 BC.

Paestum - Temple of Neptune - Particular

The Archeological Site

The main noteworthy features of the archeological site today include the remains of three temples dating back to 6^th century BC in a remarkable Doric style. These temples had been dedicated to Athena and Hera; however, they had earlier been identified as temples and basilicas of Ceres and Neptune. The site is spread over an area of 120 hectares approximately. Only the site of 25 hectares that contained the three temples had been excavated.

The remaining area of 95 hectares remains on private land and excavations have not been done in the area. The ancient city had been surrounded by various defensive walls which still exist. These walls are 4750 m long, 15 meters high and 7 meters thick.

There are 24 different towers in round and square shapes which had been built along the walls. It is believed that there might have been more than 28, but many had been destroyed when a highway had been constructed in the area in 18^th century. The highway itself cuts the archeological site in two parts.

 
Bad weather in the Vallo di Diano.

Velia - Ruins of an old castle

Velia

Velia is the name of the old town of Elea which is located in Salerno in the Campania region of Italy. It belongs to the Cilento region which has been declared a world heritage site. The city had been first founded by the Greeks with the name of Hyele in the Magna Graecia in 538 BC. It is mainly known as home to the philosophers Zeno and Parmenides of Elias.

These philosophers were part of the Eleatic School. The location of the Acropolis was once a castle on sea. It had been renamed Castellammare della Bruca during the Middle Ages.

Ruins of the ancient city walls, along with traces of many towers and a gate can be seen today. These are spread over an area of three miles and date back to different eras in the history. The lime stones which are typical to this area have been used in the construction of all these monuments.

Bricks had only been used in the later years.  The form of these bricks is quite unique to this place, each of these are about 1.5 inches square, and four inches thick. All of these have a Greek stamp. There are also a few remains of other buildings and cisterns in the region.

Certosa di Padula

Padula - Certosa - Panorama - Photo courtesy of D. Pennini/Wikipedia

The Certosa di Padula or Padula Charterhouse is a very famous and large monastery in the Padula town. The monastery has been declared a world heritage site. It is the second largest of its kind in Italy after the monastery of Parma.

It took around 450 years to construct the monastery but most parts of the building have baroque style of architecture. The monstary covers an area of 12.7 acres and has more than 320 different halls and rooms. It had been founded in 1306 by Tommaso di San Severino at the location of an older monastery. It has been dedicated to St. Lawrence. The structure has been designed to resemble the iron griddle on which he had been burnt.

The monastery is also famous since it has the largest cloister in the world. The cloister itself is spread over an area of 2.97 acres and has around 84 columns. It is known for its beautiful spiral staircase which has been made in marble and leads to a large library.