Ancient and Medieval Agropoli
from "Acropolis"  of the prof. Piero Cantalupo

The promontory on which Agropoli stands has seen the presence of man since neolithic times.
It seems, however, that it was not until the later Bronze and Iron Ages that it came to be continously inhabited by a stable, indigenous population, which lived by hunting and fishing 

To the east of the promontory, at the mouth of the River Testene, there was a natural sheltered bay, called FOCE in ancient times, which is now almost completely silted up. 

Before and after the foundation of nearby Poseidonia (e. 625 B.C.), 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 stretch of coast now known as S. Marco east of the promontory and to the right of the Testene, a seaside town called ERCULA developed and flourished between the Ist cent. B. C., and the 5th cent. A.D. 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 cent. A.D., when the Vandals from Africa made life difficult in Ercula, its inhabitants retreated on to the overlooking promontory, which offered better prospects for defence. Then, in the 6th cent. A. D., during the Greco-Gothic war (535-553), the Byzantines needed a secure, well-protected harbour south of Salerno, so they fortified this site, calling it a AKROPOLIS, which means "high town".

Towards the end of the 6th century, the Longobard invasion forced the Bishop of Paestum to take refuge in Agropoli, which then became not only the episcopal see, but the main centre of the surviving Byzantine territories in Tyrrhenian Lucania.

Agropoli remained in the hands of the Byzantines until 882, when the town fell lo the Saracens. They turned il into a formidable stronghold (called a "rabat" in Arabic). From this base, they a set out to plunder and terrorise the whole i surrounding area, right up to the walls of Salemo. Eventually, in 915, they were driven from the trenched camp they had established in the meantime at Garigliano. Agropoli was also liberated and came back under the jurisdiction of the bishops, who had established their see in (old) Capaccio during this period.

For the rest of the medieval period, the area remained under the protection of the bishops, who also possessed a huge territory, including the inhabited areas of Eredita and Ogliastro, as well as the former villages of Lucolo, Mandrolle, Pastina, S. Marco in Agropoli and S. Pietro in Eredita. This vast area constitued the Feudal District of Agropoli which had been ceded to the bishops of Capaccio in Norman times and, except for brief periods, was possessed by them until the early decades of the 15th century. In fact, in 1412, Pope Gregory XII ceded the feudal territories of Agropoli and Castellabate to King Ladislas of Durazzo (1386-1414) in partial payment of some war debts. 

However, the Crown did not formally take possession until 1443 and before this, on 20 July 1436, King Alfonso of Aragon granted the fiefs of Agropoli and Castellabate lo Giovanni Sanseverino, Count of Marsico and Baron of Cilento, requiring him to pay the Bishop of Capaccio 12 ounces of gold annually.

The first statistics we have of Agropoli were compiled in 1445, when the town, including its dependent villages, had a total of 202 homes and, therefore, a similar number of families.

Apart from a few changes, such as the temporary transfer to Rodrigo d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto, from. 1505 to 1507, Agropoli and its feudal lands were held by the Sanseverino family until 1552, when Prince Ferrante was accused of treason and forced to give up all his possessions.

After that, Agropoli passed to various families in succession. D'Ayerbo of Aragon (1553), Grimaldi (after 1564), Arcella Caracciolo (1597), Mendoza (1607), the Filomarino princes of Roccadaspide (1626), Mastrillo (1650), Zattara for a short while and, finally, the Sanfelice, dukes of Laureana (1660). The latter possessed the town until the abolition of feudalism in 1806.

Agropoli was a particular target of raids from North Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the population dwindled to only a few hundred inhabitants. Among these raids, two are particularly worthy of note. The town was sacked on 21 April 1544 and about 100 people were taken prisoner. Then, on 30 June 1630, a strong band of men from surrounding Cilento helped the citizens of Agropoli to repel an attack by 700 Turkish pirates. These managed to escape in their ships with a substantial amount of booty and many prisoners, nevertheless they were heavily defeated and left many dead behind them.

During the nineteenth century, Agropoli began to expand outside the medieval walls, but the old town has remained intact, together with most of the surrounding defensive walls and the seventh-century entrance gate. The Angevin-Aragonese castle, which was built on 6th cent. Byzantine foundations, still stands on top of the promontory. To the west of the modern tourist harbour, there is another small promontory, on which the coastal tower of S. Francesco (16th cent.) stands next to the much altered remains of the convent of the same name.

In the Municipal Antiquarium, there is a sizeable collection of archaeological finds, representing life in the area from prehistoric to medieval times.

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pagina aggiornata il 10/04/2001