Agropoli

Sister cities

• Chili

History

The promontory on which Agropoli stands has been inhabited since Neolithic times. It seems, however, that it was not until the later Bronze and Iron Ages that it came to be continuously inhabited by a stable, indigenous population, which lived off hunting and fishing. To the east of the promontory, at the mouth of the River Testene, there is a natural sheltered bay, called "Foce" in ancient times, but which is now almost completely silted up. Before and after the foundation of nearby Poseidonia (c. 625 BC), the Greeks used it for trading with the local people. They gave the promontory the Greek name, Petra ("rocky hill"), and built a temple on it, dedicated to Artemis, the Goddess of Hunting. It has been established that in Roman times, on the coastal stretch, now known as San Marco, east of the promontory, and to the right of the Testene, a seaside town called "Ercula" developed and flourished between the 1st century BCE, and the 5th century CE. Meanwhile, the harbour of neighbouring Poseidonia (by then, renamed Paestum by the Romans) became progressively silted up by the process of coastal bradyseism. During the 5th century, when the Vandals made life difficult in Ercula, its inhabitants retreated to the overlooking promontory, which offered better prospects for defence. Then, in the 6th century, during the Greco-Gothic war (535-553), the Byzantines needed a secure, well-protected harbour, south of Salerno, so they fortified it, and called it Acropolis, meaning 'high town' or citadel. Acropolis remained in the hands of the Byzantines until 882, when the town fell to the Saracens, who turned it into a formidable stronghold (). From this base, they set out to plunder and terrorise the surrounding areas, right up to the walls of Salerno. Eventually, in 915, they…

Geography

The municipality borders with Capaccio, Castellabate, Cicerale, Laureana Cilento, Ogliastro Cilento, Prignano Cilento and Torchiara. The town is few kilometres far from the Ancient Greek city of Paestum. It includes the hamlets (frazioni) of Frascinelle, Fuonti, Marotta, Mattine, Moio, Muoio, Madonna del Carmine, San Marco, Tarullo and Trentova.