UNESCO: THE CILENTO

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula           Province of Salerno, Campania

The Cilento is an outstanding cultural landscape. The dramatic groups of sanctuaries and settlements along its three east–west mountain ridges vividly portray the area's historical evolution: it was a major route not only for trade, but also for cultural and political interaction during the prehistoric and medieval periods. The Cilento was also the boundary between the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia and the indigenous Etruscan and Lucanian peoples. The remains of two major cities from classical times, Paestum and Velia, are found there.
Cilento is a cultural landscape of outstanding value that has evidence of human occupation dating from 250,000 years ago. It has been successively occupied over time by farmers during the Neolithic period, by Bronze and Iron Age societies, Etruscans, Greek colonists, Lucanians, and was eventually incorporated into the Roman territory inthe 3rd century BC. Roman road networks replaced the earlier tracks, but after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, these roads fell into disrepair and the ancient network was revived during the Middle Ages, as is evident in the feudal castles and religious establishments built along routes.

UNESCO: THE CILENTO

NETWORK PORTALI, Pisa