Campagna, Italy: travel guide to the city of art in the Picentini mountains near Salerno

Campagna is a historic town in the province of Salerno, in Campania, set in a narrow gorge of the Picentini mountains at around 270 metres, about 44 kilometres from Salerno. One of the most interesting smaller historic centres of southern Italy, it spreads through its valley with a wealth of noble palaces, churches, convents and fountains, watched over from a hilltop by an ancient castle.

For travellers searching for Campagna Salerno, the Picentini mountains, the 'A Chiena festival or the Jewish internment camp, the town combines fine architecture, mountain scenery and a powerful chapter of 20th-century history.

History and main sights

A Roman municipium in origin and a lively town from the Middle Ages, Campagna was a feudal seat of the Orsini and Sanseverino families and the seat of a bishopric. Its cathedral, begun in the 16th century with an elegant Renaissance façade, rises beside the river Tenza, while the ruins of the Gerione castle crown the heights above the old town. In the Second World War Campagna became the site of the largest camp for the internment of Jews in fascist Italy; in 1943 its townspeople helped the internees escape into the mountains, a story of solidarity now told in a permanent exhibition, the "Itinerary of Memory and Peace."

Traditions and nature

Campagna is famous for 'A Chiena, a summer tradition in which the waters of the river Tenza are channelled along the streets of the historic centre for joyful water games. Set on the southern slopes of the Monti Picentini Regional Park, it is also a fine base for walking in the mountains and exploring the Sele valley.

Practical information

Campagna lies about 44 kilometres east of Salerno, reached by road through the Picentini foothills, and within easy reach of the Amalfi Coast and the Greek temples of Paestum further south.