What is Roscigno known for?

Roscigno Vecchia emptied after the 1902 landslide and relocation laws of 1902 and 1908, with most families gone by the 1920s. Italian press name for Roscigno Vecchia; the village stayed largely intact and is now an open-air museum of rural Cilento life. Self-appointed last resident, alone in the empty streets for over twenty years as guardian and tour guide until his death in January 2024.

When is the best time to visit Roscigno?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September into October are the months that suit Roscigno. The Cilento hills stay green, the air is mild and the empty streets of Roscigno Vecchia photograph well in the low light. July and August are hot, often crossing thirty-two degrees, and the ridge offers little shade between houses; many visitors come early in the morning. November through March is quiet, often wet, and parts of the old village close after rain because the stone surfaces stay slick. School groups and day-trippers from Salerno or Paestum cluster on spring weekends. Outside those, the place is mostly silent, which is what it is for.

Roscigno is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 109 kilometers from Salerno.

How do I get to Roscigno?

From Salerno, Roscigno is roughly 109 km by road.

Campania · Salerno

Roscigno

A Cilento ghost town at 570 meters, emptied by a 1902 landslide and known as the Pompeii of the twentieth century.

Known for

GHOST TOWN
Roscigno Vecchia emptied after the 1902 landslide and relocation laws of 1902 and 1908, with most families gone by the 1920s.
POMPEI DEL '900
Italian press name for Roscigno Vecchia; the village stayed largely intact and is now an open-air museum of rural Cilento life.
GIUSEPPE SPAGNUOLO
Self-appointed last resident, alone in the empty streets for over twenty years as guardian and tour guide until his death in January 2024.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Roscigno sits at 570 meters on the slope of Monte Pruno, inside the Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park, sixty kilometers inland from Salerno. The comune has two settlements. Roscigno Nuovo, up the hill, holds the 625 current residents.

Roscigno Vecchia, the original village built in the 1600s and 1700s, was emptied between 1902 and the 1920s after a landslide and the relocation laws of 1902 and 1908 moved the population to safer ground. The old village stayed largely intact: stone houses around Piazza Giovanni Nicotera, a fountain and washing basins still in the middle, the eighteenth-century Chiesa di San Nicola di Bari on a raised level above. Italian guides call it the Pompei del Novecento.

Giuseppe Spagnuolo lived alone in the empty streets for over twenty years as the self-appointed guardian until he died in January 2024 at seventy-six. The village now functions as an open-air museum with an ethnographic collection in the former rectory.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Roscigno’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Roscigno Vecchia
Stone village of the 1600s and 1700s, abandoned between 1902 and the 1920s after landslide damage and relocation laws; now an open-air ethnographic site.
Piazza Giovanni Nicotera
Main square of Roscigno Vecchia with the original fountain and public washing basins, framed by the empty houses and the eighteenth-century church.
Chiesa di San Nicola di Bari
Eighteenth-century parish church on a raised platform above the piazza, still unrestored, with a preserved wooden ceiling visible through the doors.
Museo della Civiltà Contadina
Six-room ethnographic museum in the former rectory and municipal house with about five hundred objects on grain, wool, wine and oil production.
Monte Pruno
Forested peak above the village, the watershed between the Calore Lucano and the Tanagro, hiked from Roscigno Vecchia in around two hours.

The slow-trip planner

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Living here

Population 625
Very remotei
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 2 h 3 min drive
Regional capital Napoli, 2 h 3 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

The numbers

Elevation: 570 m
Population: 625
Surface area: 15.18 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Salerno

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, 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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