Bed and breakfast accommodation in Salerno Monasteries

South of Naples, at the west end of the idyllic stretch of coast that runs from Sorrento through Positano to Amalfi, stands Salerno. It’s a good base for exploring the Sorrentine peninsula, either along the tortuous but breath-takingly lovely, corniche road, or by boat from Salerno’s harbour. In town Via dei Mercanti snakes through the old quarter, where you’ll find the Duomo, a remarkable 11th-century cathedral, founded by the Norman king Robert Guiscard. It’s a superb Romanesque-Arab building with ancient columns, Islamic arches, a mullioned loggia and bronze doors brought from Constantinople in 1099. Outside Salerno and high on a hill, is the Castello di Arechi, a superb Norman structure with fabulous views. Back in town, you can stroll along the 2km-long Lungomare Trieste running beside the sea to the tourist harbour, pausing to visit the Giardini Minerva, the oldest botanical garden in the world, and the Villa Comunale, a cool green park.

Salerno’s coastal position played a big part in the development in the 10th century of its medical school, founded in the dispensary of a monastery. The city stands at a crossroads, enabling the exchange of knowledge and ideas from all over the Mediterranean as the school grew. During the 11th – 13th centuries Arab and Byzantine-Greek medical theories fused with Jewish practises and some of the earliest medical books were written here. It was renowned as a tolerant society, with monks and lay practitioners treating the sick from all over Europe. Its importance waned over time, and it finally closed as a university in 1861. 

Salerno’s patron saint is St Matthew; his statue is paraded through the town in September and then rowed out to sea to bless the city from the water.