Campania · Salerno
Castelcivita
A small Alburni hill town at 526 meters in the Cilento national park, the surface entrance to a 4,800-meter karst cave inhabited 40,000 years ago.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 57 min from Salerno
- Population
- 1,441
Known for
THE GROTTE
Nearly 4,800 meters of karst caves with Paleolithic deposits dated to 40,000 years ago, open to the public since 1929 and lit since 1962.
PARCO NAZIONALE
Inside the Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1997 covering 1,810 square kilometers.
TORRE ANGIOINA
Thirteenth-century watchtower at the top of the borgo, now housing the Museo della Civiltà Contadina and Paleolithic finds from the caves.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J26°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Castelcivita sits at 526 meters on the western flank of the Alburni mountains, in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park, forty-five kilometers inland from Salerno. The town has 1,441 residents and a medieval ridge plan around an Angevin tower, now the seat of the Museum of Rural Civilization. Most visitors come for the caves below the village, the Grotte di Castelcivita, a karst system that runs for nearly 4,800 meters along the Calore river and includes named halls of the Castle, the Crocodile and the Desert.
The cave mouth opens at ninety-four meters above sea level, 1. 5 kilometers from the town. In 1972 the Paleolithic deposits at the entrance turned the grotte into one of the most significant sites of early human presence in southern Italy, with stone tools and faunal remains dated to roughly 40,000 years ago.
The town above is quiet. The cave system is what brings school groups, speleologists and weekend visitors from Salerno.
The Sunday letter
Castelcivita is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Castelcivita comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Castelcivita in our articles
The 8 best hill towns inside a national park in Campania8 towns, Castelcivita among them.
The best hill towns within 90 minutes of Salerno9 towns, Castelcivita among them.
The best towns with a food festival in Campania9 towns, Castelcivita among them.
Every town in our catalogue inside a national park151 towns, Castelcivita among them.
How to get there
From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 41m by car.
Bari / Brindisi (BRI) is about 3 hours away.
By car from the centre of Salerno 57 minutes, Naples 1h 41m or Bari 3h 10m.
Coming by train into Salerno? Castelcivita is about 1 hour away by road.
What to see
Grotte di Castelcivita
Karst cave system running nearly 4,800 meters along the Calore, with Paleolithic deposits from roughly 40,000 years ago and named halls of the Castle, the Crocodile and the Desert.
Torre Angioina
Thirteenth-century Angevin tower at the top of the centro storico, now the seat of the Museo della Civiltà Contadina with Paleolithic finds from the caves.
Centro storico medievale
Ridge-pattern village of stone houses and stepped lanes on the slope of the Alburni, with views east across the Calore valley.
Monti Alburni
Limestone massif rising directly behind the town, the western anchor of the Cilento national park, with hiking trails to Monte Panormo.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Castelcivita fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Festa della Patata di Montagna di Castelcivitafood festival
Sagra del Fungo Porcinofood festival
Living here
- Population 1,441
- Remotei
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 41 min drive
- Regional capital Napoli, 1 h 41 min drive
Common questions
- What is Castelcivita known for?
- Castelcivita is a small Alburni hill town at 526 meters in the Cilento national park, the surface entrance to a 4,800-meter karst cave inhabited 40,000 years ago.
- Where is Castelcivita?
- Castelcivita is a comune in the province of Salerno, in Campania.
- What is the nearest airport to Castelcivita?
- Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 41m by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Castelcivita?
- About 57 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Castelcivita?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Castelcivita?
- Yes. Festa della Patata di Montagna di Castelcivita and Sagra del Fungo Porcino.
- Which other towns are like Castelcivita?
- Fornelli, Aiello Calabro and San Mauro Forte.
- How many people live in Castelcivita?
- 1,441 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 526 m
- Population: 1,441
- Surface area: 57.64 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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