Discover Pollica

Pollica brings together historic architecture, museums and marine nature. The area is part of the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano; the Oasi Blu Affiliata WWF La Punta is located in the municipality of Pollica, between Acciaroli and Pioppi. This allows you to plan your trip around different interests: architectural history and cultural offerings on the one hand, coastal ecology and nature trails on the other.

Architecture and local history

Two historical moments come together at the Castello dei Principi Capano: Guido d’Alment inherited the castle in 1290. Its present architectural design dates back to a restoration commissioned in 1610 by Vincenzo Capano, the 15th Prince of Pollica. The square tower is three storeys high and rises above the small town. Alongside the building’s history, the tower’s shape and height are therefore notable architectural features.

Palazzo Vinciprova has a different layout: two side towers frame the central building that connects them. Inside the palazzo, the Museo Vivente della Dieta Mediterranea comprises five exhibition rooms with explanatory panels and videos. The architecture and exhibition thus offer distinct cultural points of interest. The Centro Studi sulla Dieta Mediterranea “Angelo Vassallo” was inaugurated in Pollica in 2010.

Marine museum and coastal ecology

The MuSea Museo vivo del Mare is housed in Castello Vinciprova in Pioppi and opened to the public in 1996. It is home to around 100 marine species in tanks spread across three rooms. A touchable Proteus tank recreates a rocky environment typical of the first few metres below the surface. The marine museum thus focuses both on the diversity of species and on a specific example of a habitat.

The Oasi Blu Affiliata WWF La Punta covers 157 hectares of sea and includes a 600-metre stretch of beach. Its marine life includes extensive Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows, which reach depths of around 30 metres. These figures describe different aspects: the area in hectares refers to the marine area, the 600 metres to the beach stretch, and the depth figure to the seagrass meadows. The Oasi therefore offers a specific nature-focused point of interest alongside the exhibitions in Pioppi.

Trails and visit planning

La Costa delle Sirene runs from Punta Licosa in San Marco di Castellabate to the Museo del Mare di Pioppi. A nature trail has different endpoints: it begins in Pioppi in front of the Museo Vivo del Mare and leads to Pozzo dell’Uva Nera. These destinations help you identify each trail by its direction; the route of one cannot be inferred from the other. Check local trail conditions before your visit: seasonal conditions should be taken into account on La Costa delle Sirene, and conditions on the nature trail may also change.

The historic buildings and nature-focused attractions offer different points of interest, without requiring you to choose just one.

Discover more destinations: Angri, Felitto, Piaggine, Faiano, Scario, Rocca Cilento, Futani, San Gregorio Magno.

For the overview of the wider area: Salerno.