What is Agropoli known for?

Triangular fortress with three circular towers on sixth-century Byzantine foundations, the postcard outline of the Cilento gateway. Taken by the Saracens in 882 and turned into a trenched stronghold for raids on Salerno until they were driven from the Garigliano in 915. Blue Flag water quality, with Trentova beach south of the headland inside the Cilento marine protected area.

Agropoli is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 57 kilometers from Salerno.

Campania · Salerno

Agropoli

The gateway commune of the Cilento, a Byzantine acropolis on a promontory taken by the Saracens in 882 as a base for raids on Salerno.

57 km / 35 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

21,262

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Agropoli is the northern gate of the Cilento coast, a promontory between two bays forty kilometres south of Salerno. The name itself, akropolis, was given by the Byzantines who fortified the high point during the Greco-Gothic war between 535 and 553. In 882 the Saracens took the town and turned it into a rabat, a trenched stronghold from which they raided as far as the walls of Salerno until they were dislodged from the Garigliano camp in 915. The Angevin-Aragonese castle still stands on the highest point, a triangular plan with three circular towers and a moat, built on the original Byzantine foundations. Below the castle, the centro storico runs in stone stairways down to the small fishing port. Modern Agropoli has 21,000 residents, a Bandiera Blu beach, the Spighe Verdi mark for agro-environmental quality, and Cilento National Park status that links it inland to the Mediterranean Diet biosphere.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello Angioino-Aragonese
Triangular castle with three circular towers and a moat, built on sixth-century Byzantine foundations and remodelled by the Angevins and Aragonese.
Centro storico sul promontorio
Old town on the headland, stone stairways from the castle down to the fishing port, with the seventeenth-century Porta arch and tight whitewashed alleys.
Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
Sixteenth-century mother church inside the centro storico, rebuilt after war damage, dedicated to the patrons celebrated each 29 June.
Spiaggia di Trentova
Crescent of fine sand south of the headland, framed by macchia mediterranea cliffs, Bandiera Blu water and part of the Cilento marine protected area.
Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park
UNESCO Mediterranean Diet biosphere reserve linking the coast at Agropoli to the inland Alburni mountains and the Vallo di Diano interior.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the open Cilento beach season, with the marina filling up from late June onward and the Trentova bay reachable by foot or boat. July and August push the Cilento past thirty-five degrees and the port and headland fill with day boats from Capri and Salerno. April and October are dry and quieter, ideal for walking the castle path without the queue. November through March is winter on the headland: rough sea on the open side, half the rentals closed, and the castle silhouette photographed against grey water. The Sagra del Pesce in the small port pulls weekend crowds in mid-summer.