What is Pisciotta known for?

Slow Food Presidium for the night-fished, hand-sorted, salt-cured anchovies caught with a medieval menaica net by a handful of Marina boats. Endemic cultivar of the lower Cilento, hand-harvested on steep terraces, base of the Cilento DOP extra-virgin oil. Marina di Pisciotta beach holds the Blue Flag for water quality and shoreline management on the Cilento coast.

Pisciotta is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 179 kilometers from Salerno.

Campania · Salerno

Pisciotta

A Cilento hilltop town of olive terraces above the Tyrrhenian, where fishermen still pull anchovies with the medieval menaica net.

179 km / 111 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

2,428

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Pisciotta sitson a hill above the Cilento coast between Ascea and Palinuro, inside the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park. The surrounding slopes hold the Pisciottana olive, a cultivar found almost nowhere else, used for the Cilento DOP extra-virgin oil. Down at Marina di Pisciotta, a handful of fishermen still go out at night with the menaica net, a Mediterranean technique once widespread but now confined to a few coves; the salted anchovies that result are a Slow Food Presidium. Carlo Pisacane's failed 1857 revolutionary expedition from Genoa landed at Sapri and was crushed nearby; the Cilento coast carries the memory in plaques and processions. The town carries a Bandiera Blu beach and falls inside the National Park's strictest zone. The centro storico, stone houses on the ridge, looks across at Capo Palinuro twelve kilometers south.

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Gallery

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Known for

Centro storico di Pisciotta
Hilltop medieval core of stone houses on a ridge 171 meters above the sea, with a clear sightline to Capo Palinuro.
Marina di Pisciotta
Fishing port and Bandiera Blu beach at the foot of the hill, departure point for the last menaica anchovy boats on the coast.
Uliveti di Pisciottana
Terraces of Pisciottana olives, an endemic cultivar producing the Cilento DOP extra-virgin oil, with trees of considerable age.
Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
Parish church in the historic centre, with a high stone bell tower and traditional patronal procession in late June.
Parco Nazionale del Cilento
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and National Park stretching inland from Pisciotta to the Alburni, with marked hiking and pasture trails.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the open season on the Cilento coast: clear water, warm evenings and the menaica boats out at night. July and August push past thirty-five degrees and the Marina rentals book; the centro storico on the hill above stays a few degrees cooler in the breeze. April and October are dry and mild, the right time for the olive harvest road and Parco Nazionale walks without heat. November through March is winter on the Cilento: rough sea, fewer trattorias open, and the SS447 stays quiet between Ascea and Palinuro. The patronal feast of San Pietro falls late June and signals the start of the season.