What is Castelcivita known for?

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. Inside the Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1997 covering 1,810 square kilometers. Thirteenth-century watchtower at the top of the borgo, now housing the Museo della Civiltà Contadina and Paleolithic finds from the caves.

Where is Castelcivita?

Castelcivita is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 64 kilometers from Salerno.

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.

526m

Elevation

64 km / 40 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

1,441

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

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 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.

Plan your trip

Gallery

3 photos · scroll →

Known for

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.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the working months for Castelcivita. The Alburni stay green into early summer, the temperatures hold below thirty degrees, and the caves keep a steady fourteen degrees year round, useful when the surface is hot. July and August push past thirty-two; the centro storico empties in the afternoon and the cave queue grows. November through March is quiet. Many trattorie close on weekdays. The caves stay open most of the year on a reduced schedule, with guided tours that take ninety minutes through illuminated chambers. The Calore valley below holds mist on cold mornings, then clears into long views of the Alburni ridge.