Salerno

Port in Campania, southwest Italy, 48 km/30 mi southeast of Naples; population (2001) 138,200. It was founded by the Romans in about 194 BC, destroyed by Charlemagne, and sacked by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1194. Salerno has had a university since medieval times (1150–1812, revived 1944); a medical school was incorporated in the early foundation. There are ceramic, cotton, and paper industries.

The temple ruins of the ancient Greek city of Paestum, with some of the earliest Greek paintings known, are nearby.

Salerno lies on a narrow strip of land between the Apennines and the Gulf of Salerno. It has an 11th-century cathedral, restored in baroque style, and a ruined Lombard castle. A collection of health precepts in Latin verse, the Schola Salernitana, was edited at the medieval medical school. In World War II the town was the scene of major Allied troop landings in 1943 and suffered in the heavy fighting which ensued.

Salerno

Province of southern Italy in Campania region; capital Salerno; area 4,923 sq km/1,901 sq mi; population (2000 est) 1,092,000. It was formerly the Neapolitan province of Principato Citeriore.