Rurality and Terraces

Corbara. Borgo Sala, the hermitage of Sant’Erasmo, and the UNESCO terraces

The journey begins in Corbara, a natural balcony between the Lattari Mountains and the valley, part of the UNESCO Amalfi Coast site. It should be noted that the Amalfi Coast is a World Heritage Site due to its terraced landscape, which also includes the mountain slopes of Corbara, which belonged to the monastery of San Trifone di Ravello between 1500 and 1700, a period in which intense cultural exchanges and relations developed with the coastal side.

This ancient link is evident in the medieval heart of the village, the Borgo Sala: a cluster of houses leaning against each other, connected by alleys and steps that intertwine like threads of stone. The axis of the main roads, which are flat, runs from east to west and connects to stairways and sloping lanes: an ingenious system created by the inhabitants to regulate the rainwater coming from Monte Cerreto, built in harmony with the morphology of the place. For this reason, the historic center of Corbara has the same structure as the villages of the Amalfi Coast and not that of the internal courtyards typical of the centers of the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese.
The history of the town, however, dates back to Roman times, with the arrival of populations following both the eruption of 79 AD and the destruction of Nuceria Alfaterna during Hannibal’s siege. From 1785, Corbara was part of the civitas Nuceriae. The name “Sala” derives from the Lombard era: this area was in fact the site of public assemblies and the administration of common affairs. The most recent discoveries place the hall precisely where the 18th-century chapel of San Giuseppe now stands, the ideal heart of the historic center, the point where all the alleys converge, once leading to the community hall and later to the small church.

The village of Corbara is dominated by the Hermitage of Sant’Erasmo, now a place of secluded spirituality: the single-nave church can be reached by a long staircase that winds its way through small terraced gardens. This stretch is the center of the visit to the chapel, which is often inaccessible as it is home to a hermit. Along the way, it is easy to understand why this hilly area is part of the UNESCO landscape of the Amalfi Coast: it is the terraces that shape the landscape, dry stone walls and cultivated plots that have made an otherwise steep mountain habitable and productive. On these terraces, solely in the shade of vines and using dry farming techniques, the Pomodorino di Corbara is produced, a tasty tomato grown under heroic conditions which, thanks to its quality and flavor, is now a leading product in haute cuisine. From above, the view opens up into a vast panorama: on one side, the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, on the other, the Gulf of Naples with Vesuvius in the background. It is a natural terrace between two worlds: the Amalfi Coast and the Sarno Valley, and Corbara becomes the perfect link between these two identities.

Sant’Egidio del Monte Albino. The Roman aqueduct, the Fonte Helvius, and the thousand-year-old abbey

Driving down from Corbara, in a few minutes you reach Sant’Egidio del Monte Albino, one of the places that best illustrates community life in the Agro area. The historic center, with its internal courtyards, buildings overlooking narrow alleys, and stairways connecting one house to another, is also part of the area recognized by UNESCO as a cultural landscape of the Amalfi Coast. Here, every courtyard has been a shared space for centuries: water, the oven, celebrations, and stories were shared. Behind the doors lie hidden gardens, vegetable gardens, and pergolas that tell of a social life based on “us” rather than “me.”

By booking at the Pro Loco of Sant’Egidio del Monte Albino, you can visit the Roman Aqueduct of Sant’Egidio, an imposing yet discreet work: an underground channel in opus reticulatum that, for centuries, has collected water from the mountain springs and conveyed it down to the valley. Even today, it feeds the Fonte Helvius, linked to the ancient Roman villa of the Helvii: a point where Roman hydraulic history, the rural landscape, and the daily life of the village meet. The spring takes its name from its patron, Publius Helvius, a magistrate of the ancient city of Nuceria, who had it built at his own expense.
The importance of the spring lies in its iconography: on its sides, it preserves the only plastic representations of the god Sarno, on the left presented as a child (The river at its source), in the center as a powerful and mature man (The river in the middle of its course), and on the right as an elderly man (The river flowing tiredly into the sea). A few meters away stands the thousand-year-old Abbey of Santa Maria Maddalena in Armillis, the town’s mother church and ancient Benedictine monastery: a monumental complex that, for centuries, governed the territory spiritually and materially, managing land, water, and communities. Inside, it houses a polyptych of exquisite workmanship and enormous artistic and cultural value: it dates back to 1540 and is the work of Giovan Battista Firello. At the beginning of the left aisle, there is a staircase leading under the abbey: here is the ancient monastery of the first monks, with an ancient fresco of Saint Giles and the deer, at the end of which you can see the external colonnade of the ancient Roman villa lost in the darkness. Sant’Egidio is thus both a rural village and a piece of a large mosaic: that of the UNESCO landscape, where terraces, religious architecture, and water infrastructure make up a single narrative.

San Marzano sul Sarno. Land of DOP tomatoes and agricultural identity of the Agro

Continuing by car towards the plains, leaving the hills behind, the itinerary reaches San Marzano sul Sarno, where the land takes center stage. This is where the San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP tomato, Campania’s “red gold,” is grown and takes its name. It is appreciated worldwide for its firm flesh, elongated shape, and natural suitability for peeling. To speak of San Marzano tomatoes is to speak of one of the most representative products of Made in Italy in the contemporary imagination. The fields surrounding the village are the daily theater of this distinctive agriculture: parallel rows of plants, irrigation channels, hands moving quickly during harvest time.

In the town center, the Church of San Biagio preserves the community dimension of faith: a place of reference for the population, around which the religious life of the town is structured. Nearby, the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary preserves a painting by Angelo Solimena, a sign of the presence of refined artistic sensibility even in a deeply agricultural context. In an Agro Nocerino area of busy roads and large urban agglomerations, this small space becomes one of those hidden places of reflection that towns often preserve without ostentation.

San Valentino Torio. Rural tradition and the Infiorata di Casatori
The journey by car continues and then moves towards San Valentino Torio, where rural life explicitly meets ritual and festive traditions. The village has always been linked to agriculture in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese area and the cultivation of San Marzano tomatoes, but also to horticultural production and typical dishes that combine simplicity and rural creativity. The Church of San Giacomo Maggiore, with its three naves and spectacular piperno stone steps, is the most important religious landmark: inside, it houses the precious “Triptych of San Giacomo,” by Andrea Sabatini, which adds a touch of splendid art to the rural fabric. But it is in the hamlet of Casatori that the relationship between land and ritual is expressed most intensely: here, every year, the famous Infiorata di Casatori takes place, which for decades, on the third Sunday of September, has transformed the streets into carpets of petals, floral designs, and ephemeral paintings dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. It is a ritual of faith that manifests itself through the bond with Mother Earth and her products: flowers, colors, and scents intertwine with the fruits of the earth in a collective expression of gratitude.

Striano. The Mother Church and the community memory of a rural village

Finally, the journey reaches Striano. The Mother Church of St. John the Baptist, which has its roots in the Middle Ages, represents the religious and urban heart of the village. The community, once made up of farmers and shepherds who lived in a marshy and difficult territory, built a network of relationships, patron saint festivals, processions, and moments of sharing around the church. The Latin cross structure, the side chapels, the dome, and the interior decorations tell, stone by stone, the story of the tenacity of a rural center that has been able to grow without severing its ties with its history.