The northern part of this coast is the Costiera Amalfitana, which ends at Punta Campanella and includes towns like Amalfi, Maiori, Positano and the city of Salerno itself. The gulf also borders Piana del Sele to the east and the Cilento coast, which ends at Punta Licosa, to the south. The distance from Punta Campanella to Punta Licosa is approximately 61 km (38 miles). The surface of the gulf, delimited by the imaginary line that connects Punta Campanella to Punta Licosa and by the coast, is approximately 2,450 km2.
Salerno (UK: /sæˈlɛərnoʊ/, US: /səˈ-,sɑːˈ-,səˈlɜːrnoʊ/; Italian:[saˈlɛrno]; Neapolitan: Salierno[saˈljernə]) is an ancient city and comune (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Some of the Allied landings during Operation Avalanche (the invasion of Italy) occurred near Salerno. For a time the city became home to Victor Emmanuel III, the King of Italy, who moved from Rome in 1943 after Italy negotiated a peace with the Allies in World War II. Salerno thus became the capital of the Kingdom of the South, the seat of the provisional government and Italy's de facto capital for six months. The city has 125,958 inhabitants as of 2025.
Human settlement at Salerno has a rich past dating back to pre-historic times. In the early Middle Ages it was an independent Lombard principality, the Principality of Salerno, which around the 11th century comprised most of Southern Italy. During this time, the Schola Medica Salernitana, the first medical school in the world, was founded. In 1077, the Normans made Salerno the capital of their lands in all of continental southern Italy. In the 16th century, under the Sanseverino family, who were among the most powerful feudal lords in southern Italy, the city became a great centre of learning, culture and the arts, and the family hired several of the greatest intellectuals of the time. Later, in 1694, the city was struck by several catastrophic earthquakes and plagues. During a period of Spanish rule the city suffered a crisis which would last until the 18th century, but under Napoleon Salerno became part of the Parthenopean Republic. In the 19th century Salerno supported ideas of the Risorgimento and welcomed Garibaldi in 1861.
The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida are located in the Gulf of Naples. The area is a tourist destination, with the seaside Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum at the foot of Mount Vesuvius (destroyed in the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius), along the north coast.
Amalfi (UK: /əˈmælfi/, US: /ɑːˈmɑːlfi/, Italian:[aˈmalfi]) is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200. It has 4,611 inhabitants.
Gulf of Salerno in the context of Catepanate of Italy
The Catepanate of Italy (Greek: κατεπανίκιον Ἰταλίας, Katepaníkion Italías) was a province (theme) of the Byzantine Empire, that existed from c. 965 until 1071. It was headed by a governor (katepano) with both civil and military powers. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. North of that line, Amalfi and Naples also maintained allegiance to Byzantine Emperors through the katepano. The Italian region of Capitanata derives its name from the term katepanikion (a province under the jurisdiction of katepano).
