Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano

Itineraries

Once upon a Time there was the Sea...

From Velia to Punta del Telegrafo

An itinerary among history and myth running through the historical stages of the founders of Elea, Focei, and revealing sacred wells, Roman baths, and amphitheaters, the remains of a millenary civilization.

The Coast of the Mermaids

Punta Licosa and the Sea Museum

A journey to discover the mythical promontory of Licosa, whose name comes from the mermaid who was swallowed up by the sea right here because of her love for Ulysses. The promontory extends itself over the sea with its Mediterranean maquis, its ruins, and its historical-artistic evidences.
The aquaria of the Sea Museum in Pioppi lead the visitors across the water world and the forms of life populating the sea.

The Ghost Castle

The Mountain of Capaccio Vecchio

This itinerary leads across the rocks and vegetation of the Mountain of Capaccio Vecchio to the ruins of the castle overlooking the plain of Paestum underneath. Here it is possible to visit the archeological site and the museum. Visitors reaching this place will be drawn nearer to some aspects of the history of Cilento, and at the same time they will enjoy a spectacular landscape, a huge amphitheater where the presence of nature and man blend.

Mt. Cilento

Mt. Stella and Rocca Cilento

An itinerary on the mountain known today as Mt. Stella. This mountain is considered today, as it was in the past, a strategic point for the control of the coast of Cilento and its stretch of sea, up to one of the centres which sprung up along its ridges: Rocca Cilento.

The Pearls of Cilento

The Caves and Castelcivita Historical Town Center

The caves disclose an enchanting underground landscape which has given hospitality to man for 40,000 years.
A series of galleries, saloons, tight passages and wells create unique places: the Castle Room, the Crocodile Room, the Vegetables Room, the Pagoda. A few miles from the caves lies Castelvicita which, clinging to a rocky spur, overlooks Calore valley underneath.

In the Middle of the Earth and Memory

The Gorge of the Stream Sammaro and Roscigno Vecchio

Going down the gorge of the stream Sammaro is like entering the depths of the earth where not fire, but clear and fresh water springs.
Roscigno Vecchio ghost town is fascinating: it was abandoned a century ago, but today it is reviving thanks to the interest shown by the population of Cilento for their roots and their culture, whose evidences are preserved in the little Ethnographic Museum which has been set up in the town.

The Mountain Sacredness

The Ancient Path of the Pilgrims from Novi Velia to Mt. Gelbison

The itinerary leads to one of the most visited sanctuaries in Campania, Madonna of Novi Sanctuary. Moreover, it gives the opportunity to follow one of the most important paths leading to the peak of Mt. Gelbison.

The Realm of the Otter

The Gorges of the River Calore

The otter, the undisputed queen of the rivers, has found a warm welcome in the rivers of the Park and particularly in the river Calore. This river has been able to carve in the rock many "works of art", among which potholes and lateral basins. During the past centuries the people living here have left indelible signs of their civilization: two wonderful medieval hogbacked bridges.

Antece Mystery and St. Michael Archangel Cave

Where Nature Blends with Faith

Martyr S. Mauro Rupestral Sanctuary

Martyr S. Mauro rupestral Sanctuary is surrounded by the intense green of the ilex grove and is clunched at a calcareous slope which seems to protect it from above.

The Sentinel of Cilento

S. Severino of Centola and Roccagloriosa

Since their inhabitants had to defend themselves from continuous incursions, these villages arose in inaccessible and elevated places, Roccagloriosa in the 4th-5th centuries BC and S. Severino many centuries later.
These places have left us past evidences like the castle, the baronial palace, S. Severino houses, the characteristic graves of the ancient Lucania in Roccagloriosa.

The Lone Valley

Laurino and Grava of Vesalo

Going beyond a beautiful medieval arched bridge, you can reach St. Elena church, which is situated below Laurino historical town center, near Gorgonero. Here a spring flows into the river Calore.
The lone Soprana valley begins exactly in this place, and goes up among the rocky pinnacles of Scanno del Tesoro, among old homesteads and marvellous beechwoods. At the end of the valley there is a deep and spectacular chasm called the Grava of Vesalo, one of the many karstic phenomena characterizing the calcareous rocks of the whole area.

The Wild Beauty of Nature

The Cave and the Karst Resurgence of Auso

This itinerary leads along the road surrounding the Alburni Mountains and along Auso spectacular karst resurgence. Among stone hogbacked bridges it is possible to reach the Old Mill, which in the past provided the energy to set into motion the turbine of the old hydroelectric power generating station.

The Valley of the Mills

A Route among History and Nature

An itinerary among history and nature to discover man and the activities through which he shaped the landscape. Along this route there are many signs of the old rural community: the urban spaces, the houses, the vegetable gardens, the pastures, the rural homesteads, the Turkey oak wood. At the end of the itinerary it is possible to reach the famous Valley of the Mills scattered with ancient water mills.

In the Depths of the Earth

Morigerati and Bussento Cave

The itinerary leads below the village of Morigerati, where the river begins to flow underground and only reappears few miles further down.
The whole area offers one of the most beautiful sights of the Park: a marvellous stone-paved mule track which is partly carved in the rock and which, after a series of downward hairpin bends, leads to the entrance of the cave.

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