Salerno
What is today known as Salerno hides a long and turbulent ancient history, though under a slightly different name – Salernum. They conveniently say that all roads lead to Rome, but should the road lead you to Salerno while on your travel to the Amalfi Coast, fear not, for your time shall be well spent. Many tourist guides will probably tell you that the only sight worth checking out in terms of Salerno tourist attractions is the town’s Cathedral of San Matteo. And indeed, while this time-resisting testament to ancient Italian masons first saw the light of day way back in 1080, we still disagree – strongly, we might add – since a town that was the seat of the Fascist government during WWII cannot, by definition, be a boring spot.
Here’s a little something to support that claim: the ancient town is located at the far eastern end of the Amalfi peninsula, at the very place where the Gulf of Salerno sees steep hills rising from the sea. Truth be told, it would be way cooler had the Roman Aqueduct that was once found in this town been spared by the Allied forces when bombing the place in 1943. The same goes for the partially disintegrated Castello di Arechi, perched on a hill to the northwest of town. But, seeing how they we’re trying to keep Mussolini and Hitler from taking over the world, we’ll let it slide. THIS TIME.
