Oliveto Citra (

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

: ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Salerno The province of Salerno () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. It has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025. Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Bat ...

in the

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 ...

region of south-western

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is located by road northeast of

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. As of 2016, the comune had 3,802 inhabitants and covered an area of .

History

Archaeological discoveries in the vicinity have unearthed artifacts dating as far back as the 6th century B.C. The castle of Oliveto was first mentioned in documents in 1114, when Santa Maria de Foris, in the hamlet of Oliveto, was given to the archbishop of Conza by Count Quaimario Giffoni. Later that century, the manor was owned by the French Norman, William of toille (Tuilla). Until the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

, the castle was the seat of feudal lords and local barons. On May 24, 1985 it is alleged that the Blessed Virgin Mary made an appearance in Oliveto Citra, holding a baby. Over 100 villagers signed statements confessing to seeing the apparition. According to cultural anthropologist Paolo Apolito, these visitations are controversial and have not yet been approved by the Roman Catholic Church.

Geography

Oliveto Citra is situated by road northeast of

. The comune contains the following ''frazioni'': Casale (pop. 92), Dogana (pop. 40), Ponte Oliveto (pop. 8) and Serroni (pop. 85). The principal road is the Strada statale 691 Fondo Valle Sele (SS 691). That and the Sele River pass the town on the eastern side. There is a natural area in the comune known as "Piano di Canale". The large, heavily forested Parco Regionale Dei Monti Picentini is in the northwest. There is an industrial estate, Zona Industriale Staglioni, to the north of the town, near the village of Dogana.

Landmarks

The commune contains an 11th–12th-century castle, Castello Guerritore. An old stone pathway leads up to the castle from the Piazza Garibaldi square. The main churches are Chiesa di Santa Maria della Misericordia (1775), Chiesa Madonna delle Grazie (1497) and Santuario Madonna della Consolazione (17th century).

Religion

The majority of the population are

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The municipality belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno The Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Campania, southern Italy, created in 1986. The historic Archdiocese of Salerno was in existence from the tenth century, having been elevated from a ...

, within the Santa Maria della Misericordia parish. There is also a Protestant community; the CCEVAS Pentecostal Church has been present since about 1950.

Notable people

* Vincenzo Indelli (1908–2000), politician

References

External links

Official site
Cities and towns in Campania Localities of Cilento {{Campania-geo-stub