In the Lombard period, Salerno did not have a single port, but rather a swarm of stopovers between the city and the Sele river, whose mouth was an important landing place, as evidenced by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. However, since the Byzantine era, the port located in the bay directly under Mount Bonadies was active, strategically defended by the "Turris Maior", a port that under the Lombard princes already had its importance as a commercial hub for contacts with Amalfi and North Africa itself.

It is only with the Norman conquest, however, that Salerno manages to establish itself as an international emporium for Pisans, Genoese, Catalans, Marseillais, Flemings, Arabs and Romei. The port became the main port of a city that was already the capital during the Lombard and then Norman domination and maintains its importance, thanks to its favorable geographical position even with the Swabians.