Palinuro is one of the numerous marvellous places you can meet along the Italian coast so famous for its glittering marine caves which are treasures of the magnificent Gulf of Policastro.
You are there in a wonderful corner of the Region Campania,where that wide bay of turquoise waters embraces another,the picturesque Gulf of Velia,in that stretch of coastline called Costa Cilentana,a spectacular fan of colours and natural attractions which is a prolongation of the famed and divine Amalfi Coast,leading to the borders of the Region Basilicata.
Situated approximately at 100,0 km from the city of Salerno and 175,0 km south of Naples,Palinuro is absolutely one of the most enchanting places you can find driving towards another splendid place called Marina di Camerota.
In a land where mythology and legends embrace that territory,that resort lies on a fairytale promontory facing the Mediterranean,that enchanting place part of the municipality of Centola is the essence of the most divine beauty,the village is perched on a rocky headland with its lighthouse and under it a several small bays,picturesque coves and fantastic caves which are one of its the most shining highlights.
Palinuro is considered a gem of the Policastro Gulf,that gulf which extends the Southern Campania the western coast of Basilicata and opened until the Northern coastline of Calabria. The quality of its waters is simply wonderful,golden sandy beaches and rocky small promontories and inlets,small natural coves,undoubetly all that is a Mediterranean paradise.
Mother nature was really generous with that piece of land in proximity of the rivers Mingardo and Rubicante which together form a fertile plain in the Cilento before to end their courses in the Thyrrenian sea forming the charming bay of Molpa just 2,5 km from the centre of the resort.
The centre of the resort lying behind the long coast which border all the municipality, municipality,Via Indipendenza,is the main axis crossing all the centre,while Via Carlo Pisacane is the other artery at west a few metre from the coast.The Porto,the port is situated in the southern side towards the end of the promontory reachable by Via Porto which is the belt linking the centre to the maritime harbour.
The core of the resort is limited at north by its exits Via Saline which is a long coastal avenue in correspondence of the National Road SS447 leading to Pisciotta and Ascea,while Via Potevaliante is another exit at east leading to the interior in direction of the river Lambro.
Historically the site has a very relevant patrimony,after Greek and Roman rules,Palinuro follows the history of the Kingdom of Naples under rule of Byzantines,Lombard part of the Principality of Salerno and the Marine Republic of Amalfi Amalfi.Also Normans,Angevins Aragons and Bourbons ruled that resort before the reunification of Italy culminated in that land in the year 1860.
Palinuro is one of the several daughters of that ancient civilisation in Southern Italy, who developed in all the area one of their bases and all is today related to those ancient times,it is not a case at the entrance of the village there is the phrase "La dove incantava,giá gli antichi Greci"which means that place already enchanted the ancient,simply for that words you can imagine in which kind of paradise you are discovering.
The ancient name of the current seaside resort was also Greek, Palinurus notorious in the Greek legends and Classic Anthology.It is the name of the helmsman of the fleet of the legendary and mythological Aeneas,the Trojan hero,son of Anchises and of the Goddess Aphrodite,narrated by Virgil in his famed literary masterpiece the epic poem Aeneid.
Palinurus died during the trip from the Aegean sea to the western Mediterranean when Aeneas was reaching the region Latium,the current Lazio,the Aeneid says that the God of sleep and the destiny wanted a Trojan death during that trip,the God did sleep Palinurus with music and melodies and the helmsman fall in the sea.
Aeneas searched Palinurus without luck,the helmsman reached the coast swimming and on it was killed by the locals Velinis who thought he was a pirate or an invader,and the body of him lied on the sands of the beach of Palinurus.
When Aeneas reached the shore saw the body of the man the Epic Trojan met the ghost of Palinurus who prayed his leader to be buried with honour so his soul could rest in peace.That is what the poem said,the tragedy of Palinurus on that coast and furthermore after Palinurus was buries by Aeneas in the Aeneid,Virgil wrote that the Velinis after that crime were punished by the Gods who exterminated the killers with a plague.
Palazzo Baronale Rinaldi is an old building restored in different occasions,former property of the Prince of Centola,the palace was later the stronghold of the Baron Rinaldi and from him the name.
During the Reign of the Two Sicilies,the King Joaquin Murat brother in law of Napoleon Bonaporte who named him King of Naples after the conquest of the Reign subtracted to the Bourbons for a short period lived in 1814.
That building which was for the Monarch as a temporary residence during the inspections along the coast of Campania to visit the troops and to check the fortified systems developed in the surroundings of the Costa Cilentana and the Gulf of Policastro.
Marina di Palinuro is a charming small harbour,it hosts a sub diving center,very well equipped providing all you need for diving,there are some restaurants with exquisite local cuisine and you can reach in its northern quay Molo Trapezio,a very panoramic pier with a divine view over the Thyrrenian sea and the next rounded of the Torre del Forte della Barreria del Prodese which was part of the former defencive system built along the coast.
The marina is also an ideal place for relaxing walks and in particular very recommended at sunset with a beautiful view with the rays of the sun reflecting in the blue waters of the gulf giving that place a very charming image.
Very suggested is the Belvedere,which offers fantastic overviews of the bay,it is very close to the port and from there continuing along Via del Faro thee street of the Lighthouse,south of the marina,along it you can see the southern section of the cape with four consecutive small bays and absolutely stunning is reaching in a walk the extreme point of the cape.
Taking Via Pontevaliante north to the port you can reach in a short time,that legendary small gulf of Molpa is linked to the history Palinuro,a site very well known during Greek and Roman times,a place of an exceptional beauty,but considered mysterious and dangerous for the strong currents and several shipwreck.
According ancient legends linked to Megale Hellas,the Magna Greece,that small bay was inhabited by Sirens who invited the sailors towards that arch of waters,and those men disappeared,others say it was where the God Poseidon (or Neptun for the Romans) went there to vent his bitterness.
The Greeks called that bay Molpé a name of a Siren from Molpé who gave the current name to the bay..Despite all that in the 540 B.C,the Greeks founded on that bay of Molpé a settlement with a harbour,a former village and a huge necropolis.
The Greek and Roman presences left an important cultural and historic mark in the current resort.In all the area during several archaeological excavations were found several artifacts,consisting in objects, tools, utensils,engraved stones and tombs and Antiquarium displays a relevant exhibition displays some rests of that ancient necropolis found in proximity of the bay.
In that area there are also medieval rests consisting in the Chiesa di San Giuliano (the Church of St.Julian) and also the Molpa fortifications with the Torri Saracene (the Saracen towers) built around the hill of Molpa to defend the coast by the several attacks of the Saracens,from those events their name and the pirates who infested all the coast since medieval times in the period of the Marine Republics and later.
Molpa is also famous for a legend,it is not Greek although the Greeks found in that place a settlement,that one is dated the 16th century and it is a love story between Ferrante Sanseverino Prince of Salerno and Isabella Villamarino daughter of Bernardo Villamarino Count of Capaccio and Admiral of the Spanish Military fleet.
The count gave his daughter very young as future wife of the son of Prince of Salerno,Ferrante (himself very young too)an organised a marriage to develop furthermore the prestige of the family Villamarino,because the Sanseverino family was the first of the seven dynasties of the Kings of Naples.
After some years during the marriage between the two young,the Viceroy Pedro de Toledo accused the young Ferrante Sanseverino to be unfaithful to his wife,he informed the King Charles V and the young noble lost all his properties and he was expelled from the kingdom of Naples,with the obligation to not return anymore.
Isabella did not believe in that story of the Viceroy, considering it a lie,she tried to look for the husband in every place and when he did not find him she threw herself from the hill of Molfa,dying.
The legend says that the ghost of Isabella Villamarino continues to roam on the hill of Molfa in search of his lost love Ferrante.
Another of the the highlights is the magnificent Arco Naturale,the Natural Arch located in the area of Mingardo Beach formed by an arched huge rock,from that the name Natural Arch,that natural site apart the formation of that masterpiece is also simply stupendous for its crystalline waters and panoramic views,the coast is a series of inlets and natural tiny bays.
The outstanding beauty of that promontory is also for its formation,it lies inside the sea for about 2,2 km all the surrounding area is an authentic Eden to swim and a mecca for divers who find in the underwater caves and in the seabed a splendid habitat of marine fauna and flora.
Palinuro called and calls numerous scientists to study its rocks,limestone and sulforea rocks. These last one generated in the recent century in a bay called Cala Fetente,which has the peculiar translation of Stinky Cove for the not very pleasant smell created by a sulforea compound which the rock emanates.
There are the 32 caves around the Capo Palinuro,among which stands out the magnificent Grotta Azzurra the Blue Grotto,one of the wonderful attractions of the resort a paradise for excursions and diving immersion which are a must in this resort if the visitor is an experienced diver.
The cave takes that name for the blue of its crystalline waters,it is is approximately 92 m long with two entrances and the seabed has a depth of over 30 m.The formation of the rock is very particular the seabed changes in a short distance,just like the depth which in a very short space from 25/26 m decreases to 15,16 m.
In the Blue Grotto there is also a sort of funnel leading to the nicknamed Sala della Neve,the Hall of the snow.That nickname derives from a source a sulforea water which generates a vertical flow,the rocky walls bathed by this kind of water are covered by marine bacterias and organisms which form a sort of crust that in contact the bubbles generated by the oxygen of the divers in a chemical reaction and contrast generate just like falling flakes of snow,hence the name Hall of the snow.
Many other grottoes are indicated for very expert divers,the Grotta del Lago, (the Cave of the Lake) is not very deep,the maximum depth is about 10/11 m but very narrow,the entrance has an inferior depth,the formation of the rock and the narrow size makes of that cave a sort of rocky funnel.
There are other interesting caves as the Grotta d´Argento,(the Silver rock),the Grotta Viola,(the Violet Grotto),that one is located in the area of the mentioned Cala Fetente.It is,rich of sulforea waters,the nickname violet is from the reflects of the lights on thhat kind of waters.It is subdivided in two sections with different kind of seabed,sandy and stones and in the second part of the cave there is a formation of beautiful stalagmites and stalactites.
Another cave very attractive is the Grotta Cattedrale,the Cathedral cave,the name from the rocky formation with a shape as a mullioned window surmounting the entrance.That kind of marine cave is indicated for very expert divers,for its muddy and treacherous seabed,the shape is similar to an irregular open oval space and it is over 120 m long.
Capo Palinuro is a mecca for photographers and also for ornithologists from the top of the Cape,there is a great view from a high approximately of 52 m looking at under the rocks over the coast.That place is also refuge for many species of birds which find the ideal shelter to nest and then easily fly out to sea in search of food.
Another local attraction on the same rocks is the famous Primula Marina Palinuri a sort of cowslip flower unique in its kind,the lover of flora can find there,the presence of that kind of species which is considered unique in the marine world,because they generally grew up in mountainous habitats in a different area with a different climate.
That splendid resort is also famous for its constant blue flag,for its crystalline waters,many chances of scuba diving,the paradise of the gulf of Policastro offers several excursions and it is also connected to Naples and Salerno by a service of navigation.The Tourism Board of the Region Campania,the Tourism Council of the province of Salerno,the local Institutions,working very well and always sensitive to show the beauty of the territory,offered that service.
Naturally that navigation is a great incentive and attraction for all people who wants to admire the unforgettable and unique beauty of the Campania Coast enjoying the unforgettable views from the beautiful Costa Cilentana to the charming Costa Amalfitana,continuing along the magnificent Penisola Sorrentina and ending in the romantic and magnificent Gulf of Naples under the Vesuvius and facing Capri and naturally viceversa navigating from Naples to Palinuro.
There are other important and interesting places around the resort worth a mention the Cala delle Alghe,called with this name for the huge presence and big quantity of different kind of algae,another place very famous is the Cala delle Ossa,the Cove of the Bones,scientists and archaeologists discovered there is a calcification of bones in the local rocks of that small bay,probably shipwrecked people died in ancient time on the shores of the coast.
There are several excursion in the area,the town of Centola is really very interesting, interesting,apart other picturesque places as the Scoglio del Coniglio,(the Cliff of the Rabbit),the Parco Nazionale del Cilento,with unforgettable natural landscapes, mountains and a relevant presence of flora and fauna,the beautiful coastal towns of Marina di Camerota and Sapri (I wrote a post about it).
In Summer according famous legends which embrace that site,the resort celebrates the Notte del Mito,an event remembering the legend of Palinurus and Aeneas,that story which is emblematic symbol of that wonderful place.
It is not a case for its beauty that Palinuro and Capo Palinuro were chosen as set of the famous movie Jason and the Argonauts an Anglo -American movie of Columbia Pictures Film production by director Don Chaggey and filmed in the Arco Naturale mentioned before.
The cuisine of Cilento is typically Mediterranean,the geographic position on the Gulf of Policastro on the Mediterranean sea since long time developed fishing activity as one of its main resource and it is mainly based on fish and seafood.Excellent the Pescespada,the swordfish cooked in different ways,grilled and in sauce,but also with pasta,very famous the Penne and Maccheroni al Pescespada.
Pasta is also prepared with a sauce including swordfish,eggplant and tomato,or the Scialiatelli another kind of local pasta cooked alla Pescatora with a sauce of tomato,including mussels,squids , prawns,scampi.Another kind of pasta are the Fusilli al Ragú or also the local traditional Cavatelli.
Excellent is the olive oil of the coast and try the Ciambotta which is a very special local plate,a mix of different ingredients such as potatoes,eggplants,tomatoes and peppers,cooked in olive oil and fried all together with garlic,onion and spices.
The Alici or Pesce Azzurro,fish of the family of anchovies are another traditional symbol of the local gastronomy cooked in many styles,fried,in sauce or also as a pie and very traditional as in other areas of the Southern Italy the Parmigiana di Melanzane with another version,replacing the eggplants (melanzane) with artichokes.
Among desserts there are many,worth a mention the traditional Zeppole,the Struffoli and the Castagnaccio.The fine wines of Cilento are smooth and excellent,of very high quality is a local Malvasia and also others such as Rossitum,Cellaia and Fiano are so much appreciated for their aromatic flavor and strong body.
The railway station is about 7,0 km away from Capo Palinuro,at the Station Pisciotta and there is also a service of Buses connecting the station to the resort.
In those last years,there was an improvement about the connection to the seaside resort with a new ramification of the National Road 18 which was developed some years ago reaching Palinuro very easily from the interior as an alternative to the splendid panoramic old Litoranea road,beautiful for the terrific and wonderful views but not easy to drive due the very challenging road leading to the promontory.
Palinuro is simply beautiful,it is possible to write rivers about that place,the only thing is planning a trip to admire the shining beauty of such place,of course it will remain for ever in your mind and in the best albums of you travel memories,remebered for ever.
Francesco Mari
Recommended Hotels in Palinuro
Hotel Saline
Hotel Borgo Antico
Villaggio Degli Olivi
Hotel La Torre
Hotel Santa Caterina
Gran Hotel San Pietro
Hotel Le Tre Caravelle
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