The province of Salerno () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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

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 has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025.

Geography

The largest towns in the province are:

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 ...

, the capital, which has a population of 131,950;

Cava de' Tirreni Cava de' Tirreni (; Cilentan: ''A Càva'') is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, northwest of the town of Salerno. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a popu ...

Battipaglia Battipaglia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of southern Italy. The town is renowned for its production of buffalo mozzarella and is one of the most productive agricultural centers in the Sele ...

and

Nocera Inferiore Nocera Inferiore ( or simply , , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It lies west of Nocera Superiore, at the foot of Monte Albino, some 20 km east-southeast of Naples by rail. ...

, all having around 50,000 inhabitants. The province has an area of , and a total population of about 1.1 million. There are 158 ''

comuni 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 ...

'' (: ''

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 ...

''), the one with the largest area being

Eboli Eboli (Neapolitan language, Ebolitano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Salerno. Eboli, an agricultural centre, is renowned for its olive oil and dairy products, most notably the famous buffalo mozzarel ...

Demographics

Sights

The

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( or ) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast. Attracting international tourists o ...

—a

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 ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 1997—is located within the province, attracting tens of thousands of tourists from all around the world every year. The province also comprises the

Cilento Cilento () is an Italian mountain range (part of the Lucan Apennines), which gives its name to a geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the province of Salerno. Is an important tourist area of southern Italy. ...

coast, whose sea quality is considered among the best in Italy.Sardinia, Cilento and Tuscany top Italian seaside awards
/ref> Formerly a notable center of

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BCE that ...

houses a wide complex of well-preserved

ancient Greek temple Greek temples (, semantically distinct from Latin language, Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since the Ancien ...

s. One of the features of the rugged country-side is ''

Gole del Calore di Felitto Gole may refer to: * Gole, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland * Gole, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland * Gole (surname), a family name (including a list of people with that name) See also * Göle, small city and surrounding district in Turkey * ...

'', an area of gorges between

Felitto Felitto is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. It is famous for ''fusilli'', a kind of handmade pasta, and the annual ''Fusillo'' festival. History The town was founded at the beginning of ...

and

Magliano Vetere Magliano Vetere is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. As of 2011 its population was 739. History The town, anciently named ''Malleanum'' or ''Mallianum'', was first mentioned in a docum ...

formed by the

Calore Lucano The Calore Lucano (or ''Calore Salernitano'') is a river in Campania, southern Italy, whose course is entirely included in the province of Salerno, within Cilento, for a total of about . It is an important left tributary of the Sele. In ancient t ...

river. This area is of great geological interest and is rich in

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

. One of the many historical buildings in the province is the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

belonging to the

Certosa di Padula Padula Charterhouse () is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park, in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage Site. The monastery is the largest in Italy. Its building history ...

(or Carthreuse of Padula or of

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

in Padula), a

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

monastery in the town of

Padula Padula ( Cilentan: ''A Parula'') is a ''comune'' in the Province of Salerno, located in the Campania region of south-western Italy. The town is best known for the Carthusian monastery of Certosa di San Lorenzo, it is one of the largest monaster ...

. The building has evolved over centuries; the earliest parts were constructed in the early 14th century. A

mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

leads to the church, and a later 17th-century cloister has loggias supported by rusticated columns. These features add to the general baroque character of the building. The chapter house has been adapted for the

Museo Archeologico della Lucania Occidentale Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film *Museo station Museo is a Naples Metro station on Line 1. It opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. On 27 Ma ...

, which has many ancient artifacts dating from

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times. The

Monti Picentini image:Monti Picentini.jpg, 300px, Rocky limestone landscape in the monti Picentini. The Monti Picentini is a mountain range and national park in southern Italy, part of the Apennines, traditionally part in the Campanian Apennines. They are includ ...

area is home to the eponymous regional park, which is home to several natural preserves.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Province Of Salerno