fiogf49gjkf0d PALINURO
A PLACE OF LEGENDARY BEAUTY - ITS NAME ECHOES THE
VIRGILIAN EPISODE REGARDING AENEAS*S FAITHFUL
HELMSMAN, WHO DIED TRAGICALLY RIGHT HERE.
STANDING ON THE CAPE OF THE SAME NAME, IN THE
MUNICIPAL AREA OF CENTOLA.
ON THE SITE, SETTLED FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES, AS
TESTIFIED BY MATERIAL FOUND IN THE GROTTA DELLE
OSSA.
FLINTS AND SKELETONS DATING FROM THE QUATERNARY
PERIOD - AND FROM A SIXTH CENTURY BC NECROPOLIS,
TRACEABLE TO A STRONGLY HELLANISED INDIGENOUS
SETTLEMENT.
THE ENCHANTING VILLAGE OF THE SALERNO PROVINCE,
LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE NATIONAL PARK
OF CILENTO AND VALLO DI DIANO, CONTAINS A FAMOUS
BATHING RESORT, SET IN THE LUSH GREENERY OF
MEDITERRANEAN VEGETATION.
HERE THE GENTLE HILLS ROLL DOWN TO THE SEA -
SPLENDID FLOWERS BLOOM ON THEM, LIKE THE
DELICATE, RARE PRIMULA PALINURI - ALTERNATING
WITH WATER ERODED ROCKS, UNUSUALLY SHAPED CRAGS,
AND DELIGHTFUL SANDY COVES.
THE STEEP CLIFFS PRECIPITATE TO THE COBALT BLUE
SEA, WHERE THERE ARE MANY FASCINATING CAVES, SUCH
AS THE ENCHANTING BLUE GROTTO *GROTTA AZZURRA*
WHERE THE RIPPLING BLUE WATERS REFLECT THE
CHANGING COLORS OF ITS STALACTITES, OR THE DELLE
CIAVOLE GROTTO, ONLY REACHABLE FROM THE SEA.
ON THE COAST WELL KNOWN TO DIVING ENTHUSIASTS FOR
ITS FASCINATING SEABED, WITH ITS GREAT WEALTH OF
FLORA AND FAUNA - NOT FAR FROM PALINURO, THERE
ARE ALSO MARVELOUS NICHES OF VIRGIN NATURE.
THE RIBATTO CREEK, SALVATORE CREEK, THE MARINA OF
CAMEROTA, WITH THE MARINE PARK OF PUNTA DEGLI
INFRESCHI, THE AMBER COLORED BEACH OF THE BARCA A
VELA, BIANCA CREEK AND FINALLY THE STACKS OF
MONTI DELLA LUNA CREEK.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED 55 KM FROM PAESTUM.
PAESTUM IS SITUATED VERY CLOSE TO THE COAST, ON
THE SOUTHERN STRETCH OF THE GULF OF SALERNO.
IT WAS FOUNDED BY THE SYBARITES AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE SIXTH CENTURY BC, ON A FERTILE, BUT SWAMPY
PLAIN, IN THE IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE RIVER
SILARUS, NAVIGABLE AT THAT TIME.
POSEIDONIA WAS THE ORIGINAL GREEK PLACE SURVIVED
THE FALL AND DESTRUCTION OF THE HOMELAND IN 510
BC, QUICKLY BECOMING ONE OF THE FLOURISHING
EMPORIA OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
WITH A CIRCUIT OF MIGHTY TOWN WALLS AND ANIMATED
BY GREAT ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL FERVOR, IT WAS
FIRST OCCUPIED BY THE LUCANIANS *UP TO THE FIFTH
CENTURY BC*, WHO ITALIANIZED THE PLACE NAME INTO
PAISTOM, THEN BY THE ROMANS *273 BC*, WHO MADE IT
A LATIN COLONY, ERECTING GRANDIOSE BUILDINGS
THERE.
HOWEVER, IN THE FOLLOWING CENTURIES, THE RIVER
MOUTH SILTED UP AND THE PLAIN BECAME A MALARIAL
SWAMP.
THE CITY PROGRESSIVELY DEPOPULATED AND IT WAS
SACKED BY SARACEN RAIDERS.
THE INHABITANTS TOOK REFUGE IN THE HILLS, IN THE
PLACE KNOWN AS CAPUT AQUAE *NOWADAYS CAPACCIO
VECCHIO*, FROM THE NAME OF THE ANCIENT AQUEDUCT.
SACKED BY THE NORMANS, WHO PLUNDERED THE TEMPLES,
HIDDEN IN THE UNDERGROWTH AND THE SWAMPS, IT WAS
ALMOST FORGOTTEN UNTIL MIDWAY THROUGH THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WHEN ON THE OCCASION OF MAJOR
ROAD WORKS, THE FIRST EXCAVATIONS WERE
UNDERTAKEN, AND SCHOLARS, ARTISTS AND TRAVELLERS
FROM ALL OVER EUROPE MADE IT A FAVORED TRAVEL
DESTINATION, SPREADING ITS FAME FAR AND WIDE.
WITH 3 SUPERB DORIC TEMPLES, COMPARABLE FOR THEIR
STATE OF PRESERVATION, ONLY TO THE THESEION IN
ATHENS, AND TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER INNUMERABLE
REMAINS OF ITS ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY, MANY
DISPLAYED IN THE LOCAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM,
PAESTUM IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREAS IN ITALY AND WITHOUT DOUBT
THE MOST IMPORTANT GREEK SITE IN THE WEST.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED 114 KM FROM AMALFI.
AMALFI IS ON ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STRETCHES OF
THE SALERNO COASTLINE, IN A SPLENDID PANORAMIC
POSITION.
AMALFI IS ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING TOWNS IN
THE CAMPANIA REGION AND OF ITALY AS A WHOLE.
THE PLACE WAS ALREADY INHABITED AT THE TIME OF
THE ROMAN EMPERORS, AS TESTIFIED BY MANY MARBLE
AND POTTERY REMAINS.
ACCORDING TO TRADITION, THE TOWN WAS FOUNDED IN
THE FOURTH CENTURY AD BY SOME ROMANS HEADING FOR
CONSTANTINOPLE WHO SHIPWRECKED, STOPPED NEAR
PALINURO AND BUILT MELPHE THERE, LATER MOVING TO
A SAFER PLACE ALONG THE SALERNO COAST, THUS
ORIGINATING AMALFI.
THE MOST ANCIENT OF THE MARINE REPUBLICS REACHED
ITS GREATEST SPLENDOR IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH
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