camerotaThe origin of the town is told by a legend: Palinuro, the helmsman of Aeneas, going along the coasts of Cilento, fell in love with a beautiful girl, whose name was Kamaratòn. She didn’t love him. He was really desperate and followed her in the sea, thus dying. Venus, the goddess of love, got were angry because of the cruelty of Kamaratòn, so transformed her in a rock, where the modern Camerot [Photos of Marina di Camerota] a is now. In this way Kamaratòn was condemned to watch her refused lover.
    Camerota was founded maybe in VI century b.C. by Focei, the population that founded also Elea-Velia. The name maybe comes from the Greek word Kamaratòn, that is a building with the shape of an arch. In fact in the area there are many natural caves, and in Camerota the round arch is the most used.
    The town developed around a fortified castle built in 535-553, during the war between Goths and Byzantines; the town was dominated by many populations: Norman, Arabian, Svevian, Angevin, Aragon and Bourbon.
    The town was fortified but it was occupied and sacked many times by Saracen pirates that occupied it between 868 and 915. In 909 the castle of Camerota was the second stronghold of Cilento, together with Agropoli.
    In July 1552 the powerful Turkish army, led by General Rais Dragut Bessà, assaulted the town, destroyed and sacked it and killed a lot of inhabitants. After these terrible events many sighting towers were built.
    In the following centuries Camerota was ruled by many families: Sanseverino, Di Sangro, Marchese and Orsini.
    On 23rd July 1647 there was a violent rebellion during Masaniello revolution and the feudatory of that period, Paolo Marchese, was killed by citizens and cut into pieces. In the same year, Licusati hamlet was united to Camerota.
    In 1881 a sailor by Marina di Camerota, Pietro Troccoli, together with the captain Antonio Fondacaro from Bagnara Calabra and the sailor Orlando Grassoni di Ancona, made a legendary enterprise: they crossed the ocean with their boat, Leon di Caprera, leaving from Montevideo, to give a golden sword and a record of signatures to Giuseppe Garibaldi.

     

     

    Stefania Maffeo