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History

The town was founded in Magna Graecia in 470 or 471 BC as Pyxus or Pixous (Ancient Greek: Πυξοῦς), by Micythus (Ancient Greek: Μίκυθος), the tyrant of Rhegion and Messena.²³ It has been a Latin Rite bishopric twice, as Bussento (Latin: Buxentum) and as Policastro, and remains a Catholic titular see as "Capo della Foresta".⁴

During the fascist period, with the union of municipalities of Ispani and Santa Marina, Policastro became a hamlet of Capitello.

Geography

The town is located on the southern side of Cilento, not too far from the national park, in the middle of the Gulf of Policastro on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Situated by the estuary of river Bussento, it is 10 km far (north) from Sapri, 5 from Santa Marina, 4 from Scario (hamlet of San Giovanni a Piro), 25 from Marina di Camerota (hamlet of Camerota), and almost 90 from Salerno. The nearest villages by the sea are Capitello (hamlet of Ispani, far 2 km) and Villammare (hamlet of Vibonati, far 4 km).

Tourism

Policastro attracts visitors, especially in summer, due to the quality of its water, its rural surroundings and a good rail link and for camping.

Transport

The railway station is situated in the middle of the town, by the main line Rome-Naples-Reggio Calabria-Palermo/Catania. Regional trains run every hour. The town recently inaugurated (2006) as the final track of national road SS18, which runs from Salerno - Battipaglia - Paestum - Agropoli - Vallo della Lucania - Palinuro to Sapri. Policastro has another carriageway, a variation of SS 517 that reaches Padula and the A2 Motorway⁵ exit Padula-Buonabitacolo, via Sanza.

See also

• Cilento
• Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Policastro
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Teggiano-Policastro
• List of ancient Greek cities
• Magna Graecia
• Santa Marina

External links

• Gulf and town of Policastro (IT)
• Policastro on Cilento portal (IT)

References

1. (in Italian) Infos on italia.indettaglio.it http://italia.indettaglio.it/ita/campania/salerno_santamarina_policastrobussentino.html ↩

2. (in Italian) "Pixunte" on the Italian Encyclopedia Treccani http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/pixunte_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ ↩

3. Mogens Herman Hansen & Thomas Heine Nielsen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 289. ↩

4. GCatholic - former bishopric of Buxentum and titular see of Capo della Foresta http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0395.htm ↩

5. Naples-Salerno-Cosenza-Reggio Calabria /wiki/Naples ↩