Roscigno Vecchia

Salerno & the Cilento


One understated element of Italy is its abandoned villages, little visited places, covered in weeds and heavy with an atmosphere that is both ghostly and romantic. A case in point is Roscigno Vecchia, a semi-ruined little borgo located in the heart of the Cilento national park, 28km west of Teggiano. Sudden landslides in the early 20th century caused the population to flee, although most of the original stone houses are still standing, demonstrating the sturdiness of the historic vernacular architecture.

One of the old buildings even supports an small museum with temperamental opening hours, but the best museum is the village itself with its church, fountain, and resident cats and goats.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Salerno & the Cilento attractions

1. Grotte di Castelcivita

9.52 MILES

The grottoes are fascinating, otherworldly caves that date from prehistoric times: excavations have revealed that they were inhabited 42,000 years ago,…

2. Teggiano

10.71 MILES

The ancient coil of streets that makes up Teggiano (population 8,100) comprise what is arguably the most dashing of park’s 80 villages. Grafted onto a…

3. Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta

11.17 MILES

(Re)discovered in 1932, the Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta date back 35 million years. Used by the Greeks and Romans as places of worship, the caves burrow for…

4. Tenuta Vannulo

16.97 MILES

The first organic producer of bufala (water-buffalo) milk, Tenuta Vannulo is a 10-minute drive from Paestum. It makes its mozzarella exclusively from…

6. Certosa di San Lorenzo

17.12 MILES

A giant among monasteries, even by Italian standards, the Certosa di San Lorenzo dates from 1306 and covers 250,000 sq metres. Numerologists can get a…

7. Museo di Paestum

17.57 MILES

Facing the east side of the ruins, the Museo di Paestum houses a collection of much-weathered metopes (bas-relief friezes). Among these are originals from…

8. Basilica

17.64 MILES

The so-called basilica (a temple to the goddess Hera) is Paestum’s oldest surviving monument. Dating from the middle of the 6th century BC, it’s a…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "italy/parco-nazionale-del-cilento-vallo-di-diano-e-alburni/attractions/roscigno-vecchia/a/poi-sig/1257303/1316227",
      "destination": "Salerno-&-the-Cilento",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Italy",
      "region": "Salerno-&-the-Cilento",
      "position": "superzone"
    }