Salerno › Places and landmarks
Via dei Mercanti
The merchants’ street of the medieval town, a narrow lane of shops across the whole centro storico.
Photo: Luca Aless, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Via dei Mercanti runs through the old town from the Arco di Arechi to Piazza Sedile di Portanova, more or less where the main street of the Roman and Lombard town ran. Its shops have been here since the Middle Ages, when Salerno traded with the whole Mediterranean.
Narrow side lanes climb from it towards the Duomo and the hill, under arches and past small churches. In winter the Luci d’Artista hang their lights over it. Visit it in 3D ›
More in Salerno
Duomo di San MatteoThe Norman cathedral over the tomb of Saint Matthew the Evangelist, with an arcaded courtyard and a bell tower of the 12th century.
Lungomare TriesteThe seafront promenade under the palms, with the Gulf of Salerno in front and the Amalfi Coast on the horizon.
Corso Vittorio EmanueleSalerno’s long shopping street, closed to cars, from the old town to the station.
Teatro VerdiThe town’s opera house of 1872, a small copy of the San Carlo in Naples, red and gold inside.
Villa ComunaleThe town’s 19th-century garden, shady and green, between the Teatro Verdi and the sea.
Giardino della MinervaA garden of medicinal plants on terraces above the old town, among the oldest botanical gardens in Europe.
Medieval aqueductThe tall arches of the medieval aqueduct, which legend says the devil built in a single night.
Stazione MarittimaZaha Hadid’s ferry terminal on the Molo Manfredi, where the boats leave for Amalfi, Positano and Capri.
Castello di ArechiThe castle on the hill above the town, strengthened by the Lombard prince Arechis II, with the whole gulf at its feet.
Scuola Medica SalernitanaThe first medical school of medieval Europe, where women taught and practised medicine too.
Luci d’ArtistaEvery winter artists light up the streets, squares and gardens of Salerno with huge installations of light.
SfogliatellaThe shell of crisp layered pastry filled with ricotta and semolina, born in a convent on the Amalfi Coast.