Calitri location
Region: Campania
Province: Avellino (AV)
Area: Irpinia
Village: Calitri
See map
Calitri is located in the centre of Italy - halfway between the ruins of Pompeii and the Amalfi coast to the west and Magna Graecia to the east. The area around Calitri is sprinkled with castles, aristocratic palazzos and delightful locations soaked in history and tradition, ridged with hills and valleys and marked by the ancient trails along which Hannibal and his legions marched when setting off to attack ancient Rome 2,000 years ago.
How to reach Calitri
- Autostrada Napoli - Bari, exit Lacedonia or Candela
- Autostrada Salerno - Reggio Calabria, exit Contursi
- Railway line Rocchetta Sant'Antonio-Avellino, station of Calitri/ Pescopagano
Major cities from Calitri
Naples (Napoli): 1 hour 20 minutes.
Rome : 3 hours 30 minutes.
Bari : 2 hours 30 minutes.
Directions from Naples
First time visitors need to give themselves 1hr and 45 minutes from Naples to Calitri
* Take the A16 (it is a toll road) and head east (est)
* Take the exit for Lacedonia
* Follow the blue and white street signs for Lacedonia
* Once you rech Lacedonia follow the blue and white street signs for Bisaccia
* Once you reach Bisaccia follow the blue and white street signs for Calitri
Directions from Rome
First time visitors need to give themselves 4 hours to drive from Rome to Calitri
* From Fiumicino Airport, head left out of the airport on the Autostrada Fiumicino-Roma
* Continue on A91 - go 8.8 km
* Bear right onto the ramp to A1/Firenze/SS1 - go 1.6 km
* Merge into A90/E80 - go 19 km
* Bear right onto the ramp to E45/A1/Napoli - go 0.3 km
* Take the ramp to Casilina/SS6/Tuscolana - go 0.1 km
* Bear right onto the ramp to E45/A1/Napoli - go 0.5 km
* Merge into A1dir - go 18 km
* Take the ramp to Napoli - go 1.2 km
* Merge into A1/E45 - go 161 km
* Take the A30 ramp to Salerno/A3/Reggio C. - go 0.9 km
* Merge into A30/E841 - go 19 km
* Bear right onto the A16/E842 ramp to Napoli/Canosa di Puglia/E55 - go 0.1 km
* Bear left onto the A16/A16/E842 ramp to Canosa di Puglia/E55/A14 - go 1.1 km
* Merge into A16/E842 - go 33 km
* Take the exit for Lacedonia
* Follow the blue and white street signs for Lacedonia
* Once you hit Lacedonia follow the blue and white street signs for Bisaccia
* Once you hit Bisaccia follow the blue and white street signs for Calitri
Major sites
Amalfi Coast : Distance from Calitri west 99 kilometres, 1hour 15 minutes hour drive
Sorrento: Distance from Calitri 153 km, 2 hours 15 minutes of driving
Pompeii Ruins: Distance from Calitri , 126 km, 1 hour 40 minutes of driving
Magna Graecia: East
Galgano Coast: Distance from Calitri east 1 hour 10 minutes drive
Capri and Ischia islands : Distance from Calitri: 3 hours and 155 km including boat link.
Brindisi : Distance from Calitri 3.05 hours or 235 km from Calitri
Provinces of the region of Campania
Avellino (where Calitri is loacted), Benevento, Caserta, Naples, Salerno
Campania
Campania is one of the more well known regions of Italy due to its popular places and landmarks such as the Amalfi Coast, the ancient city of Pompeii, the Isle of Capri, the Borgo Antico Calitr. Campania has attracted visitors over the centuries: Capri, Ischia, Calitri , Positano, Sorrento, Amalfi and Agropoli became the chosen destinations of visitors from many countries. This still is the main touristic area of the region.
The town of Naples (Napoli in Italian) took its name from the Greek word for new city, Neapolis. It is far from that. It is an old port town, with a lot of charm and some great museums. It is not a museum town like some of the smaller Italian towns e.g. in Tuscany, but a very living, bustling city.
Other interesting tourist sights lie in the area of the Valle di Diano between the Cilento uplands and the Monti della Maddalena, on the Lucanian boundary. These include the Certosa di S. Lorenzo (or Padula), a majestic group of buildings of 13th century origin, but prevalently Baroque. Heading towards the Gulf of Policastro, one reaches Sapri and the Cilento beach resorts, where the coastline is a succession of high cliffs, little sandy coves, attractive harbours and caves approachable only from the sea. These resorts include Agropoli, Marina di Camerota, Palinuro, Marina di Ascea (nearby lie the ruins of Velia), Acciaroli, S. Maria di Castellabate.
In Paestum, located around 40 miles from Naples in the southern Part of Campania the best preserved greek temples of Paestum expects its vistors.
The basilica is a Doric temple from the 6th century B.C., Italy's oldest temple from the ruins of the Hellenic world. The basilica is characterized by 9 Doric pillars in front and 18 on the sides (they're about 1.5m/5 ft. in diameter). The walls and ceiling long ago gave way to decay. Animals were sacrificed to the gods on the altar. The Temple of Neptune is the most impressive of the Greek ruins at Paestum. Together with the Temple of Hephaestus ("Theseum") in Athens, they remain the best-preserved Greek temples in the world, both from around 450 to 420 B.C. Six columns in front are crowned by an entablature, and there are 14 columns on each side. The Temple of Ceres, from the 6th century B.C., has 34 columns still standing and a large altar for sacrifices to the gods. The temple zone is open daily 9am to sunset.
You can visit the National Archaeological Museum of Paestum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum), Via Magna Grecia 917 (tel. 0828-811023), across from the Ceres Temple. It displays the metopes removed from the treasury of the Temple of Hera (Juno) and some of southern Italy's finest tomb paintings from the 4th century B.C. The Diver's Tomb is an extraordinary example of painting from the first half of the 5th century B.C. The museum is open daily 9am to 7pm (it's closed the 1st and 3rd Mon of every month). Admission is 4€, but there is also a cumulative ticket, which includes the museum and the archaeological area, for 6.50€.
New discoveries have revealed hundreds of Greek tombs, which have yielded many Greek paintings. Archaeologists have called the finds astonishing. In addition, other excavated tombs were found to contain clay figures in a strongly Impressionistic vein.
When the Greek settlers began the construction of the great temples in stone at Paestum, 570 B.C. (at that time the city was founded under the name of Poseidonia) the building system they used was a "trilith system ".This system, which dates back to its origins in the early days of this world, while reaching its height during the times of the ancient Egyptians is called trilith because it consists essentially of three stones: two large stones set upright to support a third on their top. In Greek Temples the upright members - columns, consists of several superimposed blocks of varying height and a capital one which takes uniform shape for all the columns. Placed on top of the columns, the horizontal panel is invariably a monolithic oblong block, on which top all other parts of the structure rest. The average weight of these great blocks from which the column were built is around 2.000 to 2.500 kilos which is 4.400 to 5.500 pounds/lb per stone. The blocks of the oblong lintel are even more impressive: 3.000 kilos or 6.600 pounds/lb per single stone. The transportation of these stones from the quarries to the building yards could have been done with the help of draught-animals or a few pairs of oxen, while the raising of these massive of a few meters could have posed greater problems.
Paestum is surrounded by a circuit of nearly intact walls. The perimeter is a 4750 Meter long polygon that follows the contours of the travertin base. It comprises a double curtain of large, erath filled squared blocks and towers along the perimeters. The four main gates are located at the cardinal points and there are 45 smaller gates known as posterulae that served for accessing the city and for defensive puroposes.
The Village of Agropoli, is doubtless the most perfect spot to discover the Campania area and bears witness of the presence of its ancient Greek settlers, who built the temple of Artemis on the promontory. The following settlers where the Romans. The Byzantines made it a safe landing place, fortifying it and giving it the name Acropolis from the old Greek language: "acro and polis / high and town" In 882 a.d. the town fell under Saracen control which lasted until 915 a.d. when it came under the rule of the church which lastet until the 15.th century. Various noble families controlled Agropoli straight after the rule of the church. In the 16th and 17th century Agropoli and its inhabitants became particularly the target of barbarian invasions and its population fell to just a hundred souls, mostly women and children. Today Agropoli is the main gate to the Cilento Coast in the National Park which is considered a World Heritage Site unde the control and protection of the UNESCO.
Top Destinations in Campania
Naples, Avellino, Calitri, Irpinia, Sorrento, Capri, Ischia, Ischia Porto & Ponte, Pompeii, Caserta, Amalfi, Positano
Forio, Parco del Cilento, Benevento
Tourist attractions in the region of Campania
The Sibyl's cave at Cumae, the Greek temples at Paestum, the Roman ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the volcanoes of Vesuvius and Solfatara, the Costiera Amalfitana from Sorrento to Salerno, and the islands of Capri and Ischia. Other towns: Amalfi (Province of Salerno) Baiae, famous resort of the Ancient World Benevento Santa Maria Capua Vetere Maiori (Province of Salerno) Minori (Province of Salerno) Nola Paestum (Province of Salerno) Pompeii Positano (Province of Salerno) Pozzuoli Salerno Islands: Capri Ischia Procida
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