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

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the region of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern 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 Islan ...

, Italy, in the

province of Salerno The province of Salerno () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. It has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025. Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Bat ...

, northwest of the town of

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 Naples. It is located ...

. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a popular tourist resort. The abbey of La Trinità della Cava is located there.

Geography

Overview

Cava de' Tirreni lies among the hills close to the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, north of the

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( or ) 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. Attracting international tourists o ...

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 (which separate Cava from the Amalfi Coast) to the west and the Picentini Mountains to the east. Many of Cava's citizens reside in the hills surrounding the town. Cava is bordered to the north by Nocera Superiore, Roccapiemonte and Mercato San Severino; to the east by Baronissi, Pellezzano and

; to the south by Vietri sul Mare and Maiori; and to the west by Tramonti. The town is a link between the geographical area of Agro Nocerino Sarnese (flat, with an agricultural and industrial economy) and the Sorrento Peninsula (mountainous, with an economy based on tourism).

''Frazioni''

The 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 town, initially comprehending present-day Vietri sul Mare, was founded by the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

with the name of ''Marcina'', as part of a colonial system known as '' Etruria Campana''. The modern name Cava de' Tirreni ( 'Cave of the

Tyrrhenians Tyrrhenians (Attic Greek: ''Turrhēnoi'') or Tyrsenians ( Ionic: ''Tursēnoi''; Doric: ''Tursānoi'') was the name used by the ancient Greeks authors to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek people, in particular pirates. While ancient so ...

') is a tribute to the Etruscan heritage of the area. The church and the greater part of the abbey buildings were entirely modernized in 1796. The old Gothic cloisters are preserved. The church contains a fine organ and several ancient

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

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

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

'', documents and manuscripts of great value (including the ''Codex Legum Longobardorum'' of 1004 and the La Cava Bible).

Main sights

* Abbey of La Trinità della Cava, founded in 1011. Features include the ambon with mosaics (12th century), the grotto of St. Alferius, the Romanesque

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

(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 co ...

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 rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

, 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 second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

. The belltower, with three orders, was finished in 1584. The interior is on the Latin Cross plan, with some 16th-century frescoes by Belisario Corenzio 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 (film director, film producer and screenwriter) * Alfonso Balzico (sculptor and painter) * Luca Bisogno (footballer) *

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface 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 during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of t ...

* Alda Borelli, actress in theatre and

silent films A silent film is a film without 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, wh ...

* Donato Antonio Cafaro (16th century engineer) * Donato Antonio Cafaro (17th century royal engineer, probably descended from the previous) * Giambattista Castaldo (16th century soldier) *

Giuliana De Sio Giuliana De Sio (born 2 April 1957) is an Italian actress, the younger sister of pop music, pop-Folk music, folk singer Teresa De Sio. She won two David di Donatello for Best Actress and a Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress. Biography and career ...

(actress) *

Teresa De Sio Teresa De Sio (born 3 November 1952) is an Italian pop-folk singer and songwriter. She is the elder sister of actress Giuliana De Sio. Life and career Teresa De Sio was born in Naples and grew up in Cava de' Tirreni, where her family was origin ...

(singer) * Giovanni Vincenzo Della Monica (16th century engineer; collaborated with Giovan Battista Cavagna) * Raffaele Della Monica (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 (architect, designer of the cloisters of Santa Caterina a Formiello) * Giulio Genoino (Catholic priest; originator, with

Masaniello Tommaso Aniello (29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647), popularly known by the contracted name Masaniello (, ), 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 the Neapolitan Revolt of 1647) * Costantino Grimaldi (philosopher, jurist, politician and noted anticurialist) * Simonetta Lamberti (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 (member of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order and man of letters) * Eduardo Migliaccio (actor and comedian) * Gino Palumbo (journalist) * Giampaolo Parisi (football player) * Andrea Rispoli (football player) * Fausto Salsano (football manager) * Raffaele Schiavi (football player) * Stefano Sorrentino (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 (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

* Pittsfield, USA * Schwerte,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Nesvizh Nyasvizh or Nesvizh is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Nyasvizh District. Nyasvizh is the site of Nesvizh Castle, a World Heritage Site. In 2009, its population was 14,300. As of 2025, it has a population ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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