Road Trippin’ – Salerno, Italy

By Ian Cobb

Almost 18 months after being there, I still find myself mentally wandering back to Salerno, a busy port city in Campania, 57 km southwest of Naples and a gateway to the famous Amalfi Coast.

It wasn’t the loveliest place we visited in Italy. It wasn’t the most popular place nor initially thought to be interesting place. It wasn’t the most convenient place, with grocery stores a healthy hike away from our comfy, clean Air B&B that looked across a street to a busy container-loading facility part of the port.

Yet, despite not being the belle of the ball, Salerno sticks with me. I dream about it.

We chose to stay four nights in Salerno as our base to see the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. As the southern entry/exit to the Amalfi Coast, the city of about 130,000 souls is much more affordable than Sorrento, at the northern end of the coast. Ferries are also readily available to catch to the various towns along the coast and nearby islands such as Capri.

Due to requiring a day working on our business, we spent an idle Saturday afternoon in Salerno, wandering its narrow streets and seafront.

A war history nut, I was keen to visit Salerno as it was the spot Allied forces landed at in 1943 to begin the terrible task of defeating and then liberating mainland Italy from Nazi control. I admit to being fairly ignorant of other aspects of this ancient city’s history.

Human ties to the area stretch back to Neolithic times (about 10,000 years ago), with Etruscans setting up shop in 6th Century BC and the Romans claiming it in 197 BC.

During our day wandering around we came upon the Cathedral of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which wasn’t the most wowing of big churches. We wandered around outside and when we stepped inside, found out one had to pay to enter (not common in our experience). Being cheap, I huffed, “Bah, nuts to it.”

Being ever-curious, Carrie marched to the kiosk and paid the small entry fee and we entered, unaware of what it housed.

The baroque cathedral, built in 1647 over an 8th-Century church, holds the remains of San Matteo (Saint Matthew), one of the 12 apostles, as well as Pope San Gregorio VII.

The interior of the cathedral is beautiful, but it is the crypt that steals the show, complete with the sepulchre of St. Matthew, who legend tells arrived post-mortem in Salerno in the 10th Century.

Thanks to having a low ceiling, completely slathered in painting depicting the Gospel of St. Matthew and Salerno history, it was literally staggering to see. We both gasped when we stepped into the crypt.

Another beautiful stop after the cathedral was Chiesa e Monastero di San Giorgio (Church of St. George), where we watched a candle lighting event before a classical music concert.

We also witnessed the day before, much to the chagrin of our cab driver trying to take us from the Salerno train station to our accommodation, a kind of Eucharistic procession, which wound through the downtown right at the peak of rush hour.

That was the true charm of Salerno.

It was Italy right in your face. La dolce vita with a heaping dose of everyday life just outside international sensation.

Lead image: The crypt of Cathedral of Santa Maria degli Angeli containing the remains of San Matteo (Saint Matthew).  Photos by Ian Cobb and Carrie Schafer

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