MARCINA

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 "Marcinae oppidum illud est, quonunc dicitur vulgo Veteri" - Filippo Cluverio, 1642

The first part could derive from the personal name Marcius with the addition of the suffix "-anus" which indicates belonging to the feminine, therefore "-ana". The specification indicates proximity to the port.

The existence of an ancient city there is clear confirmation in the denomination "locus Veteri" assumed by the Vietri territory in Lombard period and which eans old or ancient city. The term bears memory of a previous settlement, attributable to the old Etruscan and Samnite Marcina. 

The Amalfi Coast in pre-Roman times belonged to Etruscan jurisdiction, as reported in the “Geography”  of Strabone: the hilly area depended on the city of Nuceria Alfaterna, the maritime area ox n the city of Marcìnae.

The Vietri area, with the anchorage of Fuenti, had a sheltered port, a unique landing place, since the beach of nearby Salerno, near the mouth of the Irno, was exposed to the waves and subject to silting up.

In light of this "nautical" consideration, the best safety conditions would therefore suggest the mouth of the Bonea river, and consequently Vietri, as an ideal site for the establishment of an Etruscan trading post; moreover, in light of the geographical conformation of the territory, Vietri is the only center on the sea, south of Punta della Campanella, at such a short distance from Nuceria Alfaterna. At the same time, the walking distance between the center of Vietri and old Porta Rapizzi was only 35 minutes.

The poor defended Marcina it would have been destroyed by the barbarian invasions: maybe the Goths of Alarico around 409 AD or the Vandals of Genserico around 455 AD.

Numerous archaeological remains have been found along the coast and inside the town. Among these, the most important are represented by graves containing pottery of Corinthian style, a Roman thermal structure and an opus reticulatum. 

In 1991, a spa facility came to light in the Bagnara di Marina di Vietri area datable between the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD, pertaining to a maritime villa. Initially laconicum, a heated room used as a sauna, was transformed, perhaps already in the Giulio-Claudia age (from 27 to 68 AD), into a frigidarium, with the occlusion of the passage from hot air and the transformation of the entire environment into a circular tub for immersion baths.

Location: Salerno SA, Italia

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