Cilento () is an Italian mountain range (part of the Lucan Apennines), which gives its name to a geographical region of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

in the central and southern part of the province of Salerno. Is an important tourist area of southern Italy.

Geography

The Cilento mountain range, part of the Lucan Apennines, is located south to Sele plain, north to Basilicata, west to Alburni mountain range and Vallo di Diano. The main mountains are the Mount Stella (1131 m) in the North, Mounts Gelbison (1705 m) and Cervati (1899 m) in the center, Mount Bulgheria (1225 m) in the south. This area is sparsely inhabited, most villages are located at high altitudes, and the territory is mostly covered by forests. The mountain range is divided in two areas by the river mouth of Alento and the Mounts Gelbison and Cervati: "High" Cilento (Alto Cilento) and "Low" Cilento (Basso Cilento), respectively at the North and the South of the listed sites. The

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of Cilento is located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, stretching from Paestum to the Gulf of Policastro, near the town of Sapri. Most of the touristic destinations in the coast are (hamlets) of '' comuni'' (municipalities) whose seats are inland; examples include Santa Maria di Castellabate, Acciaroli, Velia, Palinuro, Marina di Camerota, Scario and Policastro Bussentino. The inner boundaries of the Cilento mountain range are the Alburni

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s and Vallo di Diano; in addition to the Cilento mountain range, they are also considered as part of Cilento geographical region, such as the southern part of the Sele plain and the mountain range of Eremita-Marzano. The entire Cilento geographical region is located south to Sele river, an area known as the western part of Lucania, which has in Sala Consilina (in the Vallo di Diano) its largest center. The other most important towns in this area are Vallo della Lucania (in the middle of Cilento mountain range), Sapri and Agropoli in the Cilento coust; Sapri is the largest town of Cilento, and the principal harbour. Most of this area is included in "Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park". The principal site in the southern part of the Sele plain is the archeological site of Paestum, while the main center is Altavilla Silentina. In the Eremita-Marzano mountain range the principal city is Buccino, while in the Alburni mountain range there are Castelcivita and Sicignano degli Alburni.

Communes

Alto Cilento communes

* Agropoli * Aquara * Ascea * Bellosguardo * Campora * Cannalonga * Capaccio Paestum * Casal Velino * Castellabate * Castelnuovo Cilento * Castel San Lorenzo * Ceraso * Cicerale * Felitto * Gioi * Giungano * Laureana Cilento * Laurino * Lustra * Magliano Vetere * Moio della Civitella * Monteforte Cilento * Novi Velia * Ogliastro Cilento * Omignano * Orria * Perdifumo * Perito * Piaggine * Pollica * Prignano Cilento * Roccadaspide * Roscigno * Rutino * Sacco * Salento * San Mauro Cilento * Serramezzana * Sessa Cilento * Stella Cilento * Stio * Torchiara * Trentinara * Valle dell'Angelo * Vallo della Lucania

Basso Cilento communes

* Alfano * Camerota *

Casaletto Spartano Casaletto Spartano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History The town has medieval origins and originated around the settlement of ''Spartoso'', from which it derives the toponym, c ...

* Caselle in Pittari * Celle di Bulgheria * Centola * Cuccaro Vetere * Futani * Ispani * Laurito * Montano Antilia * Montecorice * Morigerati *

Pisciotta Pisciotta is an Italian town and communes of Italy, commune in the province of Salerno, region of Campania. History According to legend, Troy, Trojans escaping from the fire and the destruction of their city, Troy, founded Siris, Magna Graecia, ...

* Policastro Bussentino * Roccagloriosa * Rofrano * San Mauro La Bruca * San Giovanni a Piro * Santa Marina * Sanza * Sapri * Torraca * Torre Orsaia *

Tortorella Tortorella is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno, Campania, in south-western Italy. Geography Located in southern Cilento, 11 km from the Cilentan Coast, Tortorella is a hill town located in the middle of a large forest area p ...

* Vibonati

Mounts Alburni communes

* Castelcivita * Controne * Corleto Monforte * Ottati * Petina * Postiglione * Sant'Angelo a Fasanella * Sicignano degli Alburni

Vallo di Diano communes

* Atena Lucana * Auletta * Buonabitacolo * Caggiano * Casalbuono * Monte San Giacomo * Montesano sulla Marcellana * Padula * Pertosa * Polla * Sala Consilina * San Pietro al Tanagro * San Rufo * Sant'Arsenio * Sassano * Teggiano

Southern part of Sele plain communes

* Altavilla Silentina * Albanella * Serre

Mounts Eremita-Marzano communes

* Buccino * Palomonte * Ricigliano * Romagnano al Monte * San Gregorio Magno * Salvitelle

History

Ancient History

As part of the ancient region of Lucania, the Cilento was inhabited by Lucanians people, an italic tribe. Known lucanian site are Roscigno, Roccagloriosa and Caselle in Pittari, where archaeological excavations have been made. The region is steeped in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

and legends, as in the names of some towns, which is also visible in the remains of the colonies of Velia (ancient Elea) and Paestum (ancient Poseidonia). Velia was also the seat of " Eleatics", a school of pre-Socratic philosophers as

Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; ; fl. late sixth or early fifth century BC) was a Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic ancient Greece, Greek philosopher from Velia, Elea in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy). Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Veli ...

, Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos). The Romans made new cities mainly in the Vallo di Diano and Mounts Eremita-Marzano, as Volcei, because of the central position in relation to the main road of the empire in this area (the Capua-Regio).

Middle Ages

After the Lombard conquest, the Cilento area was included in the Principality of Salerno, as a "gastaldato" (a type of district of the time) of Lucania, divided into the counties of Capaccio and Magliano. The

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

created the baronies of Rocca Cilento and Novi Velia, which became the main centers of the region. The Cilento territory was located on the border with the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

area, which is why many Greek rite monasteries were created. The nobles of the territory frequently rebelled against the sovereigns, as with Frederick II of Swabia and Ferrante of Aragon, carrying out many conspiracies. The Angevins and Aragonese fought in the territory during the War of the Vespers, becoming a battlefield for a long time. At the end of the Middle Ages there were continuous battles with the Ottoman pirates. All these events led to the construction of the numerous castles that characterize the area. Cilento comes by the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''Cis Alentum'', meaning "On this side of the Alento", a name given by the Lombards.

Sixth province of Campania

In the 1990s it was proposed to make Cilento a new province of

. This proposal has never come near to implementation; in particular there was the difficulty of choosing an administrative centre. The four candidates were Vallo della Lucania (in the most central position), Agropoli (the largest town, situated in the north), Sala Consilina (the most populous town of Vallo di Diano) and Sapri (in the centre of southern Cilento, with the most important railway station). Another more recent proposal was to move Cilento from Campania to Basilicata, as a third province together with the existing provinces of Potenza and Matera.

National Park

In 1991, Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park was instituted to preserve the landscape and promote tourism. In 1998, the park became a World Heritage Site of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Coast

The Cilentan Coast, or ''Costiera Cilentana'' in Italian, is a stretch of coastline situated in the gulfs of Salerno and Policastro, extending in 16 municipalities; from Capaccio-Paestum in the north-west to Sapri in the south-east.

Language

Cilento was part of ancient Lucania, and its

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

is influenced by Lucanian. In the north of Cilento the

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

is more influenced by Neapolitan, but in the south it has many similarities with Sicilian.

Cilento DOC

Italian wine, red, white and '' rose'', under the Cilento DOC appellation comes from this area. Grapes destined for DOC product must be harvested to a maximum yield of 12

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

with the finished red wines fermented to a minimum alcohol level of 11.5% and the whites and ''roses'' fermented to 11%. Red Cilento wines are a blend of 60-70% Aglianico, 15-20% of Piedirosso and/or Primitivo, 10-20% Barbera and up to 10% of other local red grape varieties. The whites are a blend of 60-65% Fiano, 20-30% Trebbiano, 10-15% of Greco and/or Malvasia bianca with up to 10% of other local white varieties. The ''roses'' are blends of 70-80% Sangiovese, 10-15% of Piedirosso and/or Primitivo and up to 10% of other local red grape varieties. A separate varietal Aglianico can also be produced under the Cilento DOC provided that at least 85% of the wine is Aglianico with Primitivo and/or Piedirosso permitted to fill in the remainder and that the wine is aged at least one year before it is released.

Photogallery

image:Sanza da Colle del Pero.JPG, Sanza image:Agropoli700.JPG, Agropoli Image:Campora Bosco - panoramio.jpg, View from Campora File:Velia2-enhanced.jpg, Velia ruins Image:Castelloroccacilento.jpg, Castle of Rocca Cilento image:Isola di Licosa.jpg, Licosa island in the ''Comune'' of Castellabate image:Monte Bulgheria visto dalla montagna loc. Cornia di Futani (SA)..jpg, Mount Bulgheria image:View of Paestum.JPG, Paestum Image:Oasi del Bussento Morigerati.jpg, Bussento river at Morigerati Image:Hera_temple_I_-_Paestum_-_Poseidonia_-_July_13th_2013_-_01.jpg, Paestum Image:Romagnano02.jpg, Romagnano al Monte Image:Zona Lago.jpg, S.Maria di Castellabate Image:Vallo Diano.JPG, Vallo di Diano Image:Capo palinuro.jpg, Cape Palinuro Image:CilMontiAlburni06.jpg, View from Alburni mounts

References

Sources

* Maurizio Tortora: ''Cilientu mia''. Edizione del Delfino, 1977,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

* Giuseppe Vallone: ''Dizionarietto etimologico del basso Cilento''. Editore UPC, 2004 * Pietro Rossi: ''Ieri e oggi 1955-2005. Poesie in cilentano''. Grafiche Erredue, 2005 * Barbara Schäfer: ''Limoncello mit Meerblick. Unterwegs an der Amalfiküste und im Cilento''. Picus, 2007, * Peter Amann: ''Cilento aktiv mit Costa di Maratea - Aktivurlaub im ursprünglichen Süditalien''. Mankau, 2007, * Peter Amann: ''Golf von Neapel, Kampanien, Cilento''. Reise Know-How, 2006, * Barbara Poggi: ''La Cucina Cilentana - Köstlichkeiten aus der Cilento-Küche''. Mankau, 2006, * Luciano Pignataro: ''Le ricette del Cilento''. Ed. Ippogrifo, 2007,

External links

What to do and see in Cilento and Tourism in Cilento

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park

Historical and other infos about Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park

Tourism in the National park of Cilento

Tourism and holidays in Cilento

Cilento Social Network
{{Authority control Geography of Campania Tourist attractions in Campania Biosphere reserves of Italy World Heritage Sites in Italy Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy