Cava de' Tirreni (; Cilentan: ''A Càva'') is a city and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the region of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, Italy, in the

province of Salerno The Province of Salerno ( it, Provincia di Salerno) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. __TOC__ Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Battipagli ...

, northwest of the town of

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a popular tourist resort. The abbey of

La Trinità della Cava La Trinità della Cava ( la, Abbatia Territorialis Sanctissimae Trinitatis Cavensis), commonly known as Badia di Cava, is a Benedictine territorial abbey located near Cava de' Tirreni, in the province of Salerno, southern Italy. It stands in a go ...

is located there.

Geography

Overview

Cava de' Tirreni lies among the hills close to the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, north of the

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( it, Costiera amalfitana) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast. Celebrated worldwide ...

and serving in practice as its northern gateway. The inhabited area is 198 m above sea level, in a valley situated between two mountain groups: the

Lattari Mountains The Monti Lattari (Lattari Mountains) are a mountain range in Campania, southern Italy, which constitutes the backbone of the Sorrentine peninsula and of the Amalfi Coast. Geography The Monti Lattari are the western extension of the Monti Picent ...

(which separate Cava from the Amalfi Coast) to the west and the

Picentini Mountains 300px, Rocky limestone landscape in the monti Picentini. The Monti Picentini is a mountain range and national park in southern Italy, part of the Apennines, traditionally part in the Campanian Apennines. They are included between the Monti Latta ...

to the east. Many of Cava's citizens reside in the hills surrounding the town. Cava is bordered to the north by

Nocera Superiore Nocera Superiore ( nap, Nucèrë or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It was the core of the ancient city of ', later known as ', ' and then ' ( it, Nocera dei Pagani), which al ...

Roccapiemonte Roccapiemonte (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Geography Located in the east of the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, it borders with the towns of Castel San Giorgio, Cava de' ...

and

Mercato San Severino Mercato San Severino ( Sanseverinese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. Mercato San Severino shares borders with the municipalities of Baronissi, Bracigliano, Castel San Giorgio, Ca ...

; to the east by

Baronissi Baronissi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is home to a campus of the University of Salerno. History The town develops from the original old area named ''Casali''. Geograph ...

, Pellezzano and

; to the south by

Vietri sul Mare Vietri sul Mare ("Vietri on the Sea"; Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated just west of Salerno, separated from the Port of Salerno by only a harbour wall. The ...

and

Maiori Maiori (Campanian: ; originally ''Rheginna Maior'') is a town and ''comune'' on the Amalfi coast in the province of Salerno (Campania, Italy). It has been a popular tourist resort since Roman times, with the longest unbroken stretch of beach on ...

; and to the west by Tramonti. The town is a link between the geographical area of

Agro Nocerino Sarnese The Agro Nocerino Sarnese is a geographical region of the Province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy; the river Sarno flows through it. It is a low-lying area bounded to the south by the Monti Lattari, to the east and north-east by the ...

(flat, with an agricultural and industrial economy) and the

Sorrento Peninsula The Sorrento Peninsula or Sorrentine Peninsula is a peninsula located in southern Italy which separates the Gulf of Naples to the north from the Gulf of Salerno to the south. Geography Overview The peninsula is named after its main town, Sorr ...

(mountainous, with an economy based on tourism).

''Frazioni''

The it,

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist era (1922–1943) as ...

of Cava are: Alessia, Annunziata, Arcara, Casaburi-Rotolo, Castagneto, Corpo di Cava, Croce, Dupino, Marini, Passiano, Pregiato, San Cesareo, San Pietro, Sant'Anna, Sant'Arcangelo, San Martino, Santa Lucia, Santa Maria del Rovo, Santi Quaranta.

History

The church and the greater part of the abbey buildings were entirely modernized in 1796. The old

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cloisters are preserved. The church contains a fine organ and several ancient

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a cadaver, corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from ...

. The archives, now national property, include fine ''

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

'', documents and manuscripts of great value (including the ''Codex Legum Longobardorum'' of 1004 and the

La Cava Bible The La Cava Bible or ''Codex Cavensis'' (Cava de' Tirreni, Biblioteca statale del Monumento Nazionale Badia di Cava, Ms. memb. I) is a 9th-century Latin illuminated Bible, which was produced in Spain, probably in the Kingdom of Asturias during the ...

Main sights

Abbey of La Trinità della Cava An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

, founded in 1011. Features include the

ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...

with mosaics (12th century), the grotto of St. Alferius, the Romanesque

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

(13th century) and the large library, housing more than 50,000 volumes. *Cathedral (''Duomo''), begun in 1517 and opened in 1571. *Sanctuary of St. Francis and St. Anthony, an early 16th-century structure restored after the 1980 earthquake had damaged it. The façade is in

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

and

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

, with three large arches, the central one surmounted by a balcony. The main portal has a series of friezes sculpted in 1528 by local masters and containing scenes from the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. The belltower, with three orders, was finished in 1584. The interior is on the

Latin Cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

plan, with some 16th-century frescoes by

Belisario Corenzio Belisario Corenzio ( el, Βελισσάριος Κορένσιος 1558–1646) was a Greek-Italian painter, active in Venice and Naples. He is one of few Greek painters that did not belong to the Cretan Renaissance like his contemporaries of the ...

in the sacristy.

Personalities

* Lucia Apicella (Mamma Lucia, philanthropist) * Ferrante I d'Aragona (Ferdinand I of Naples, King of Naples from 1458 to 1494) * Mario Avagliano (historian and journalist) * Tommaso Avagliano (writer and publisher) *

Ferdinando Baldi Ferdinando Baldi (19 May 1917 – 12 September 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography Baldi was born in Cava de' Tirreni, Salerno, on 19 May 1917. His early film work began in Italy in the early 1950s with films su ...

(film director, film producer and screenwriter) * Alfonso Balzico (sculptor and painter) *

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Richa ...

Alda Borelli Alda Borelli (4 November 1879 - 25 May 1964) was an Italian stage and cinema actress. The sister of Lyda Borelli Lyda Cini, Countess of Monselice (née Borelli, 22 March 1884 – 2 June 1959) was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. ...

, actress in theatre and

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

Donato Antonio Cafaro Donato may refer to: People * Donato (surname) As a given name * Donato Bilancia (1951–2020), Italian serial killer * Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Italian architect * Donato da Cascia (fl. c. 1350 – 1370), Italian composer of trecent ...

(16th century engineer) *

(17th century royal engineer, probably descended from the previous) *

Giambattista Castaldo Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to " John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is " Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, G ...

(16th century soldier) * Giuliana De Sio (actress) * Teresa De Sio (singer) *

Giovanni Vincenzo Della Monica Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

(16th century engineer; collaborated with

Giovan Battista Cavagna Giovanni Battista Cavagna, also known as Cavagni or Gavagni (c. 1545 in Rome – 1613) was an Italian architect, engineer, and painter mainly in Naples, but also in Rome and Ascoli Piceno, Italy. Biography In Naples, he worked in 1572–1577 ...

) *

Raffaele Della Monica Raffaele () is an Italian given name and surname, variant of the English Raphael. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Raffaele Amato, Italian mobster * Raffaele Cutolo, Italian mobster *Raffaele Ganci, Italian mobster *Raffaele Canto ...

(cartoonist) * Antonietta Di Martino (

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er, Italian indoor/outdoor champion) *

Antonio Fiorentino della Cava Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

(architect, designer of the cloisters of Santa Caterina a Formiello) * Giulio Genoino (Catholic priest; originator, with

Masaniello Masaniello (, ; an abbreviation of Tommaso Aniello; 29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647) was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place of birth Until recent ...

, of the Neapolitan Revolt of 1647) *

Costantino Grimaldi Costantino is both a masculine Italian given name and an Italian surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name *Costantino Affer (1906–1987), Italian medallist *Costantino Barbella (1853–1925), Italian sculptor *Cost ...

(philosopher, jurist, politician and noted anticurialist) *

Simonetta Lamberti The murder of Simonetta Lamberti took place in Cava de' Tirreni, Italy, on 29 May 1982. The victim, the 11-year-old daughter of magistrate Alfonso Lamberti (1937-2015), was killed during an attack targeting her father, at the time prosecutor o ...

(10-year-old victim of a

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

killing) * Sabato Martelli Castaldi (General of the Italian Air Force, partisan and martyr killed in the slaughter of the Fosse Ardeatine massacre on 24 March 1944; posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor) *

Attilio Mellone Saint Attilio, one of the legendary martyrs of the Theban Legion, is venerated as a saint in the area of Trino Vercellese, in Piedmont, north-west Italy and commemorated on 28 June. However his cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usual ...

(member of the Franciscan order and man of letters) *

Eduardo Migliaccio Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footb ...

(actor and comedian) *

Gino Palumbo Gino may refer to: * Gino (given name) * Gino (surname) * ''Gino'' (film), a 1993 Australian film * ''Gino the Chicken'', Italian TV series See also * *Geno (disambiguation) *Gino's (disambiguation) Gino's may refer to: * Gino's East, a Chicag ...

(journalist) *

Giampaolo Parisi Giampaolo Parisi (born 17 July 1979) is an Italian former footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football ...

(football player) *

Andrea Rispoli Andrea Rispoli (born 29 September 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a right-back for club Cosenza. Career Brescia Born in Cava de' Tirreni, Campania, Rispoli started his professional career at Brescia Calcio. Having played for the re ...

(football player) * Fausto Salsano (football manager) *

Raffaele Schiavi Raffaele Schiavi (born 15 March 1986) is an Italian footballer who plays as a centre back for Maltese club Sliema Wanderers. Biography Schiavi's first club was Salernitana, but he only played eight times before joining Lecce in 2005. He had to w ...

(football player) *

Stefano Sorrentino Stefano Sorrentino (born 28 March 1979) is an Italian former footballer. A professional goalkeeper for his whole career, he is currently a football agent, as well as owner/chairman of Chieri in the Serie D league. Sorrentino played for several ...

(football player) *Federico Pisapia, Marco Senatore, Vincenzo Schiavo, Giuseppe Schiavo (First FLAGS artists in Cirque du Soliel 2011)

Twin towns – sister cities

Cava de' Tirreni is twinned with: *

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (; german: Landsberg an der Warthe) often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów, is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the second largest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 120,087 inhabitants (Decemb ...

, Poland *

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Schwerte Schwerte ( Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous ...

, Germany * Nesvizh, Belarus * Tbilisi, Georgia

References

External links

Tuttosucava.it – All about Cava
(click on union flag to see English translation)
Local Tourist Office of Cava de' Tirreni
(English version)
CampaniaMeteo: weather report and forecast

Archidiocese of Amalfi-Cava de' Tirreni

Photos of Cava de' Tirreni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cava De' Tirreni Cities and towns in Campania