Historical and cultural guidelines on Cava de’ Tirreni by Till Neuburg

Today Cava de’ Tirreni has a population of over 50,000. It is located at the base of a green valley and is within easy reach of Pompeii, Amalfi, Vietri and Salerno.

In Roman times Cava was already a holiday destination for the nobles of the imperial capital. The city takes its name from its first inhabitants, the Tirreni, who were Etruscan sailors.

In Medieval times the area came under the dominion of, and populated by, the Lombards – who were also responsible for the origins of the protagonist of this guide. Around 1000 AD, at the age of 70, a nobleman of Salerno, Alferio Pappacarbone, took to monastic orders in the famous French monastery of Cluny, but at the behest of the Prince of Salerno, Guaimaro III, he returned to his homeland. Here he settled in a grotto called Arsicia or Metelliana under the mountain called Monte Finestra, which today still stands over the western side of the city, and other members of the Benedictine order sought refuge here on their return from the Holy Land.

Following Alferio’s example, many local noblemen joined this group of monks. Very soon, the site became too small. Alferio chose the nearby mountain, Monte Sant’Elia as the site to build a place to house greater numbers. Legend has it that the walls built during the day disappeared mysteriously by night. Alferio took this as a sign from the Lord, and much more than in the recently abandoned grotto, he frequently saw three rays of light which the monk (and later saint) took to be a divine command.

It was the year 1011 AD, and Alferio decided to build the Abbey in the grotto of the Holy Trinity, the original site. Works began the following year at Alferio’s expense. The final blessing ceremony took place in 1019.

The site soon became a renown centre of mediation. Nobles and Popes competed to enrich it with donations and privileges. Saint Alferio died in 1020 at the venerable old age of 120. His first three successors (Abbots Leone, Pietro and Costabile) were also recognised as saints by the Church.

The Abbey soon became one of the most important Benedictine congregations, governing numerous monasteries and churches in Salerno, Bari, Taranto, Rome, Sicily and even Palestine. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Abbot of the Holy Trinity of Cava was the administrator of over 340 churches, 90 priories, and at least 29 other Abbeys.

In the ensuing centuries the Abbey’s spiritual and economic growth gave birth to the early city – a fortified village called Corpo di Cava which today sits midway between the Abbey and the city of Cava de’ Tirreni. The village was under the Abbey’s direct authority, and all the administrative tasks were carried out there, along with deeds of purchase and sale among the many craftsmen and merchants operating more and more successfully in the textiles sector.

Tired of this long bureaucratic and fiscal domination, the people of Cava rebelled. After uprisings of increasing hostility, in 1364 the Abbey was attacked with iron and fire. At this point the mercantile activities moved down into the valley, and a town proper was established, called Borgo Scacciaventi.

The town consisted of a road with vaulted walkways on either side. Under the vaults of these unusual walkways (unusual because still today Cava is the only town in the south of Italy to vaunt such architecture), the craftsmen had their shops and warehouses where all commerce took place. Finally, in the 16th century the town joined onto the Via Regia, the road linking Salerno with Naples, and so became a real commercial and logistical crossroads which grew over the centuries to become the Cava de’ Tirreni we know today.

The masterly workmanship with which the Cavesi (citizens of Cava) embellished the town with vaults, arches, columns and elegant buildings on top, soon made them famous in the Kingdom of Naples and later in all of Italy as first rate workmen and “master builders”.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cava was chosen as a centre, or starting point, of the “Grand Tour” which the fortunate and open-minded European sovereigns and artists considered as a duty/pleasure which no cultured person could miss in their lives – people such as Goethe, Nicolas Poussin, Lady Blessington, Walter Scott, John Ruskin and many others besides.

Iconographic References:

Photos of the basilica and cloister of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity: http://www.linktour.it/Apri_sito.asp?Rif=3113&DB=Monumenti&Sito=http://fujiso.com/hna4 hp/pna527.html&Tit=Chiostrino+%2D+Abbazia+della+SS%2E+Trinit%Eo+di+Cava+De%2 7+Tirreni (only photos 1-19)

History of the Abbey: http://www.milleannorum.com/abbazia.html

Apparition of the three rays of the Holy Trinity: http://www.artcurel.it/ARTCUREL/SANTISSIMATRINITA/SantuarioapparazioneSantissima TrinitaallaBadiadiCava.htm

Views of Borgo Scacciaventi and Corso Umberto I (the main street): http://www.percorsicittadini.it/cavadetirreni/percorsi.htm (9 photos)

History of Cava: http://www.ilportico.it/cultura/cava.php

The Vaulted walkways: http://www.ilportico.it/cultura/iportici.php

Beautiful, unique photo of Borgo Scaccaventi: http://www.flickr.mud.yahoo.com/photos/vesuviano/347980837

The Abbey: http://www.cavaturismo.sa.it/photogallery/default.php?IDFoto=1&tit=La%2oBadia http://www.artcurel.it/artcurel/RELIGIONE/OPERE%2oSACRE/abbaziabenedettinasstrinita cavadetirreni.htm