The Village of Castellabate

If you’re staying at one of Bellezza in Cilento’s comfortable facilities, come to visit one of Italy’s most beautiful villages with a magnificent view of the entire Gulf of Salerno. The town of Castellabate was founded in 1123 by the Abbot of Cava dei Tirreni and has a typical medieval layout, with narrow alleys that suddenly open onto small squares, the meeting place of the inhabitants, typical of towns that had to protect themselves from the assaults of Saracen pirates from 1200 to 1700. Castellabate, in fact, is built on a rock 450 meters above the sea, very impervious and difficult to reach.

In addition to the typical alleys of the town, the other very interesting places to visit are the Pontifical Basilica of Santa Maria de Gulia, in Romanesque style with a beautiful bell tower dating back to before 1100; the Abbot’s Castle, which is surrounded by mighty walls with cylindrical towers on all four sides and now has inside completely restored cistern palaces, warehouses, ovens and dwellings used for cultural events. All around there are the noble palaces of the 18th century including, next to the Castle, the one where Gioacchino Murat stayed, uttering the famous phrase “here you don’t die…” intending that the view and the environment were splendid. The plaque commemorating the episode is right next to the palace at the beginning of the alley.