THE COUNTRY OF THE FUTURE

​Castellabate

"If we had to rebuild the world, we could start with Castellabate, a world more suited to man, as we say today, with a blue sea of ​​water and not black of oil, of ecological peace and not of energy war"

English
Cilento martedì 07 settembre 2021
di Vito Pinto
Immagine non disponibile
Castellabate © Unico

So in February 1975 the late Gaetano Giordano wrote about Castellabate in the prestigious tourist magazine "Civiltà della Campania", commissioned by the then Councilor for Tourism of the Campania Region as well as a member of the Italian delegation to UNESCO, Roberto Virtuoso, and by the President of the EPT Mario Parrilli. It was an article titled "Pacem in maribus", with clear reference to that "Pacem in Terris" by John XXIII, published in 1963, with which the Pope called all men to a peaceful coexistence, with no more wars. A journalistic title for Giordano with which to underline, rightly, the sacredness of the just enacted regional law with which the Marine Natural Park of S. Maria di Castellabate was established, first in the whole Mediterranean. The legislator, therefore, already attentive then, 47 years ago, was worried about how things were going in the Mediterranean, - “a sea in danger of swamp derubrication” wrote Giordano - and began to run for cover. Thus that marine park of Castellabate became, for the future of mankind a hope and not a utopia, a project that wanted Cilento as the "Garden of Europe". A place defined at the time as "still in its natural state", with a varied, jagged coast, where rocks, high cliffs, alveolar sculptures carved from sea salt and bays, natural coves, golden beaches alternate, such as that of the Arena Ogliastro Marina on which the sea turtle, caretta caretta, deposits its eggs. And below, on the seabed, around the statue of the Virgin Mary, there are extensive meadows of "Posidonia oceanica", a natural and favorite habitat for numerous species of fish and crustaceans, some rare such as that of the Mediterranean "parrot fish", or the " spinella di Castellabate ”, a crustacean discovered in the Licosa sea.

Already in the years around the birth of Christ, the Greek Strabo in his "Geography" wrote: "Whoever navigates the gulf, from Posidonia, sees the island of Leucosia, a short distance from the mainland, whose name takes its name from one of the Sirens fallen here after they, as it is said, fell into the abyss of the sea ». And here, around an ancient lighthouse standing in the center of a patch of sandy land, the green and blue livery lizard survives and the Corsican gull, a species at risk of extinction, nests.

Among the protected species, the wild white lily flourishes, symbol of the iconography of San Costable Gentilcore, patron and founder of Castellabate. It was 1123 when the elderly monk Costabile, born in the village of San Giovanni a Tresino, was raised to the rank of fourth abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of SS. Trinità di Cava de 'Tirreni, decided to build a castle on Monte S. Angelo, dominating the wide gulf of Salerno, for the protection of Christian ships passing through the underlying sea of myths. But also for the care of those inhabitants who in scattered houses still represented a community to take care of, both in physical and spiritual needs.

Short was the abbey of Costabile, but his successor Simeone continued the work, completing the construction of the manor which from then on was called Castrum Abbatis, and doing his utmost, in perfect Benedictine spirit, in favor of the populations, first buying the port "Travierso ", Today" Le Gatte ", from which he developed the trade, and subsequently granting the subjects of the feudal power of the Abbey various privileges, including the reduction in half of the burdens, the donation of the houses they inhabited and the lands asking for I change their reclamation and cultivation. A history of relations with the Abbey of Cavense which, albeit with alternating events, has never been interrupted in these thousand years of history. Even today that fortified Castrum located on top of Colle S. Angelo, so called by the converted Lombards, remains the property of the Benedictine Abbey of SS. Trinity of Cava de ’Tirreni.

The current story is the profound transformation that has taken place in the social and economic fabric of the country. Already in the 1700s, numerous palaces were built, renovated or enlarged by a Neapolitan and Salerno nobility who preferred these places for their summer rests. But from the '70s of the last century with the "Pacem in maribus" there was the real change of the country: from an agricultural and fishing territory it was transformed into a tourist center, with the construction of hospitality structures and in any case dedicated to 'tourism economy.

An added value to tourism came from the world of cinema. After the film "Welcome to the South", there was a sort of real pilgrimage ”to see the evocative places of the film set; inflows managed with caution by municipal administrations, without the country being overwhelmed by a hit and run that, in the end, leaves nothing but waste of an imagined success. And here comes "Cinecibo", the international gastronomic-themed film festival during which, in the wake of the aforementioned film, there was a nice challenge between buffalo mozzarella and the Gongorzola Consortium.

But above all Castellabate is one of the municipalities fully included in the Cilento-Vallo-Alburni National Park, for which "docet Mediterranean diet" on private tables and among the various, excellent restaurants. And then it should not be forgotten that among the events in Castellabate there is the annual "Festival of the fish of Paranza".

From the beach of Santa Maria it is possible to enjoy red sunsets in the last line of the marine horizon, recalling a "good weather hopefully". Then the lights are turned on for an ancient village full of Benedictine suggestions and silences, the literary salons are opened, while in the marina, in summer, there is a swarm of composed, not noisy people, who know how to grasp, in speaking softly, the beauty of a corner of the coast, a world heritage site.

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