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Salerno is a medium-sized city (about 200,000 inhabitants) mainly dedicated to commerce and services thanks to its dynamic port and its fortunate position at the center of important railway and motorway junctions. Tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the city's budget following an intense urban renewal and recovery of the architectural heritage in the characteristic old town. The province, of which Salerno is the capital, is one of the largest in Italy, but also one of the least populated, leaving plenty of space for nature. 60% of the provincial territory is protected by UNESCO, which has recognized its high natural, historical and artistic value. The city is often also referred to as the Hippocratica civitas, a reference to its glorious Salernitan medical school which made Salerno an excellence center for medicine in the Middle Ages, where Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arab medical traditions met and studied, and where women not only studied but also taught, and among these the most important female doctors were Trotula de Ruggiero, Abella salernitana, Rebecca Guarna, Mercuriade, Costanza (or Costanzella) Calenda, Francesca Romana.

The city in the Middle Ages: what to see

The Middle Ages were the period of greatest splendor of the city where it played a leading role in the historical events of Southern Italy and was a cultural beacon for the whole of the European continent. The Old Town, skilfully recovered after the damage caused by the 1980 earthquake, retains its original structure intact with its alleys and sudden openings that open up to the view and which today host the many places where the nightlife and entertainment of the Salernitans concentrate. The structure of the ancient city is determined by two natural elements, the sea and Mount Bonadies whose slopes reach the beach. The characteristic triangular structure is given by the walls built at the edge of the long beach, to protect the settlement from the dangers coming from the sea, which climbed the mountain, together with the settlement, to join the castle of Arechi, a grim fortress so impregnable that it was never conquered and which, unlike other castles, was not transformed into a noble palace. From this splendid and rugged fortress, tourists can have a complete view from above of the entire town of Salerno, the port and the Gulf. The defense to the east was guaranteed by the strong La Carnale located on a small rocky promontory which owes its name to a Salerno: Il duomo dedicato a San Matteoglorious and sudden sortie of the Salernitans against the Saracen vanguards who in 872 were organizing the camp for the siege. Such was the slaughter of enemies left to putrefy that the place was called theCarnaio (carnage).

To be noted for a visit is the Cathedral, built by the Norman prince Robert the Guiscard and dedicated to the patron saint San Matteo; the provincial museum, the diocesan museum and the museum of the Salernitan Medical School; the sixteenth-century Church of the Annunciation with a beautiful Baroque bell tower of Sanfelice; Piazza Flavio Gioia, called the Rotonda for its characteristic shape on which the eighteenth-century Porta Nuova opens from which you enter the old city; the sumptuous and alluring Baroque churches scattered throughout the city.

credits: www.salernoturistica

Salerno

How to reach Salerno from B&B A casa di Geri: travelling by train from Battipaglia railway station, which is 200 metres away, you can reach Salerno in 15 minutes.