Casal Velino

Casal Velino is located on the Cilento coast, within the National Park of Cilento and Vallo di Diano, about 70 kilometers from Salerno. The ancient village, called Casalicchio until 1893 and located 170 meters above the sea, extends in the shape of an airplane on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Velia and the fertile plain of Alento, the river that gave its name to the whole region (Cis-Alentum, on this side of the Alento). To the right of the water course, at the foot of a coastal tower built in the Angevin period, rises Marina di Casal Velino, while on the slopes of Monte Stella, one of the most important peaks of the Park, there is the locality of Acquavella. Other localities belonging to the town are Bivio Acquavella and Vallo Scalo, on the plain.
More than the current denomination, it is the ancient one that bears witness to the link with nearby Velia, the city founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC. The ancient toponym “Casalicchio” derives from the Latin “casalis litus”, literally meaning “farmhouse in the harbor”, and witnesses the origin of the settlement. The first settlement was built around the year 1000 next to the monastery of the Annunziata and the Velino port of San Matteo, in the current area of Marina. Only a few centuries later the inhabitants came down the hill and repopulated the coastal area, giving life to the picturesque seaside village. Acquavella was also founded in the year one thousand.
The millennial history of the two countries is still visible in the urban and architectural structure of the historic centers, in the artistic churches, in the austere noble palaces. The naturalistic beauties of the place and the variety of the landscape, extended from the sea to the hill and from the river to the mountain, make the town an interesting destination for excursions. The habitat is unique: there are olive trees, strawberry trees, myrtles, holm oaks, pines, figs and even a variety of broom, the Cilentine genista, which blooms only in the south of Cilento.

Casal Velino is located on the Cilento coast, within the National Park of Cilento and Vallo di Diano, about 70 kilometers from Salerno. The ancient village, called Casalicchio until 1893 and located 170 meters above the sea, extends in the shape of an airplane on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Velia and the fertile plain of Alento, the river that gave its name to the whole region (Cis-Alentum, on this side of the Alento). To the right of the water course, at the foot of a coastal tower built in the Angevin period, rises Marina di Casal Velino, while on the slopes of Monte Stella, one of the most important peaks of the Park, there is the locality of Acquavella. Other localities belonging to the town are Bivio Acquavella and Vallo Scalo, on the plain.
More than the current denomination, it is the ancient one that bears witness to the link with nearby Velia, the city founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC. The ancient toponym “Casalicchio” derives from the Latin “casalis litus”, literally meaning “farmhouse in the harbor”, and witnesses the origin of the settlement. The first settlement was built around the year 1000 next to the monastery of the Annunziata and the Velino port of San Matteo, in the current area of Marina. Only a few centuries later the inhabitants came down the hill and repopulated the coastal area, giving life to the picturesque seaside village. Acquavella was also founded in the year one thousand.
The millennial history of the two countries is still visible in the urban and architectural structure of the historic centers, in the artistic churches, in the austere noble palaces. The naturalistic beauties of the place and the variety of the landscape, extended from the sea to the hill and from the river to the mountain, make the town an interesting destination for excursions. The habitat is unique: there are olive trees, strawberry trees, myrtles, holm oaks, pines, figs and even a variety of broom, the Cilentine genista, which blooms only in the south of Cilento.