The little gem of the South Seas
“Parva gemma maris inferi”, or “Little gem of the South Seas”: this is Sapri, the last town in Campania along the coastline, in the words of Cicero.
The great Roman orator and writer loved these places very much, and in fact Sapri, founded in ancient times, was heavily inhabited in Roman times. From this period the remains of an imperial villa have been found in the downtown.
A crucial episode of the Italian Risorgimento is inextricably linked to the name of Sapri.
In 1857, the libertarian socialist Carlo Pisacane and Giovanni Nicotera landed in the bay in front of the town to provoke the rebellion of the local peasants, but the expedition failed and all its members were slaughtered. This tragic episode in history is remembered by Luigi Mercantini in the famous poem “La Spigolatrice di Sapri”. Sapri is therefore twinned with Ripatransone, a pleasant town in the Marche region which was the birthplace of Luigi Mercantini.
Today Sapri is one of the most beautiful places in the coastal Cilento. The walk through the centre offers many interesting ideas: the Church of the Immaculate Conception, from 1730, the Specola, a tower — astronomical observatory, both located in the archaeological area of the Roman villa, the Marinella, a charming part of the historic centre with buildings of the seventeenth century, the municipal villa and the beautiful seafront promenade, from which you can enjoy beautiful views both looking towards the sea, which closes in the gulf in front of the town, and inland, with the peaks of the Southern Apennines.
Sapri is also the starting point for beautiful trekking excursions, and obviously for boat trips along the coast.
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