The Minerva Garden is located in the heart of the ancient center, in an area called in the Middle Ages "Plaium montis", halfway along an ideal path that develops along the axis of the enclosed and terraced gardens that rise from the Villa comunale, around the torrente Fusandola, towards the castle of Arechi.  due to its terraced conformation that opens onto the steep slope of the Bonadies hill on top of which it is located the so-called castle of Arechi. The surrounding environment is characterized, in fact, by a geomorphology in which large terraces alternate with sudden jumps in altitude and by a territory rich in spring waters, much exploited both by the numerous religious settlements that populated this area of ​​Salerno and, captured in pipelines, from other structures located in the lower part of the city. Today, most of these sources are completely dried up.

This area, developed from the second half of the 9th century, a very important place for urban planning, for connections with external centers and for the "image" of the city.

The"viridarium" was owned by the Silvatico family since the 12th century, as evidenced by a parchment preserved in the archive of the Abbey of Cava de 'Tirreni. Later, in the first twenty years of 1300, the master Matteo Silvatico, established a Garden of the "simple", forerunner of all future botanical gardens in Europe. In this space of extraordinary cultural value today identifiable, in fact, in the area of ​​the Giardino della Minerva, some of the plants from which the active ingredients used for therapeutic purposes were grown. Silvatico also carried out a real didactic activity to show the students of the Medical School the plants with their name and their characteristics (ostensio simplicium). 

What today, at the end of the restoration work, appears evident to the visitor is an interesting series of elements ascribable between the 17th and 18th centuries (the original medieval garden, during a recent campaign of archaeological investigations, was found about two meters deep under the current floor). Among these, the most characteristic is a long staircase highlighted by cruciform pillars, which support a wooden pergola. The staircase, which connects and visually frames the different levels of the Garden, is built on the ancient walls of the city, and allows a wide and privileged view of the sea, the historic center and the hills A complex water distribution system, consisting of channels , basins and fountains, denotes the presence of conspicuous sources that have allowed, over the centuries, the cultivation of the plots. The site also has a particular microclimate, favored by the low incidence of north winds and by the favorable exposure, which, even today, allows the cultivation of plant species that are demanding in terms of humidity and heat.

D/E - From Giardino della Minerva to  Cattedrale di San Matteo - 9 min

Other places to visit nearby

Chiesa di San Bartolomeo de Coriariis - San Bartolomeo de Coriariis already exists in 1142, and which in 1592 appears in ruins due to the collapse of a wall of the upstream Garden, a Garden today identifiable in the one that insists north of our building. during recent renovations, important architectural elements have emerged inside the rooms, including a reasonably Roman column with a Corinthian-style capital and an arch dating from the late 11th century to the 12th century made with tuff tarsia gray (probably extracted from the Tufara that is the tuff quarry that stood in today's Fratte district) and yellow tuff; in particular, the sophisticated arabesque in the ferrule of this Arch is unique today in Salerno, and at the same time a sort of cross between the design in the ferrule of an Arch in Palazzo Pinto and that in the ferrule of an Arch in the Nona Chapel of the Archbishop's Palace . The corner column located at the intersection of Via Tasso itself and Salita San Bartolomeo probably dates back to Roman Salerno. PICTURES

Palazzo Guardati o Baiona - Tommaso Guardati, better known as Masuccio Salernitano, was born in this 15th century palace built by Loise Guardati, who moved to Salerno from Sorrento. Famous storyteller of the 15th century, famous above all for his "Novellino", a collection of grotesque and satirical tales. The text of the Novellino, with an anticlerical character, appears in the first index of forbidden books promulgated by the Holy Congregation of the Roman Inquisition. One of his short stories, Mariotto and Ganozza, indirectly inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Chiesa di Santa Maria de Alimundo - The first news we have about this church comes from the 992 diploma relating to the donation, made at the time of the foundation of the Church, of the brothers Guaimario, Maione, Adelmo, and Madelmo. The name "de alimundo" almost certainly derives from the corruption of the vernacular "a lu monte", or "al monte", since it is located in a very steep area, at the top of a staircase. In 954, the year of the transfer of the remains of St. Matthew, he was present in the Synod of Column among the churches in charge of carrying the "columbri" into the Cathedral in procession every 6 May. Masuccio Salernitano, author of the "Novellino", would have been buried in it. The tomb would be placed in the center of the floor in a niche closed by bricks and without inscriptions

Palazzo Ruggi d'Aragona - It was built in the 16th century and boasts an entrance with a cascading marble staircase of great refinement. Its surface is considerable, being the largest in the historic center of Salerno. The building is made up of two sections: the southern one that runs along the "Steps of the Madonna della Lama" and the northern one (due to a subsequent expansion) that extends almost as far as via Trotula De Ruggiero. The two blocks or sections are divided by the ancient via Tasso and are connected by a high gallery on which several rooms rise. In the first half of the 16th century, the emperor Charles V lived there for three days, as a guest of Prince Ferrante Sanseverino. Its current Baroque appearance dates back to 1700, when it was bought and remodeled by the Marquis Ruggi. The work was carried out by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice. Currently (2012) part of the building is occupied by the local superintendency, where exhibitions are held.

Palazzo Fiore Santamaria - The palace was built between the end of the 14th and 15th centuries, and is characterized by architectures of clear Catalan inspiration. Such examples are the depressed arch entrance portal with simple and linear features and a lowered arch in the interior. On the vault of one of the rooms, used by the superintendency as a library, a decoration representing divinities, planets and signs of the zodiac that is difficult to interpret is visible. On the vaulted ceiling of the hall that currently houses the Library of the Superintendence, a decoration of considerable interest is visible due to the complex and partly mysterious symbolism that the images seem to contain. Divinities, planets, zodiac signs refer to a cultural climate capable of elaborating, deciphering, using, connecting culturally, a series of still mysterious relationships. The building is the seat of the "Archaeological Superintendence for the provinces of Salerno, Avellino, Benevento and Caserta"

Palazzo Granito - The area on which the palace stands is an ancient property of the church of Santa Maria de Lama, documented since 1055. On it there were houses of fragmentary buildings that the church granted in emphyteusis for periods of twenty or twenty-nine years, as in use at the time. In 1530 an envelope, evidently made in perpetuity, of the same church appears in favor of the Granito family, patricians of the seat of the Campo, who will build the palace, whose doors and windows will be contracted out in 1534 in the tuff of the Penta. In it Matteo (1578-1638) will be born who, in 1605, as canon of the Cathedral, will carry out the reconnaissance of the body of Gregory VII; appointed bishop of Cava in 1623, he will be promoted archbishop of Amalfi in 1635. His monument can be seen in the right aisle of the Cathedral of Salerno, leaning against the pillar between the third and fourth chapels.

Chiesa di Santa Maria de Lama - The church  is one of the oldest churches in Salerno. In it there are the only (and fragmentary) testimonies of Lombard painting present in the city. Probably born as a private foundation chapel of some noble, the church was built when the city was in the midst of Lombard domination, that is to say between the 10th and 11th centuries; according to the documents it was frequented by the Amalfi people, whose Fornelle district is not far from it. The name "de Lama" is due to the stream that still flows in front of the building below street level. Initially the church had to be built on a pre-existing 2nd century Roman building (perhaps of the baths), of which some masonry in opus reticulatum remains, and it had to have a square plan (typical of Byzantine buildings of worship) and an entrance facing south: what remains of this early period is the current crypt, in which the remains of some frescoes of Benevento are still visible. Due to a natural event (an earthquake, or one of the many floods that hit the area) in the 13th century the church was radically restored: the vaults were demolished and the current church was built on the previous building (which became a crypt), with the plant facing west. The new church was decorated with frescoes. Probably the floors must have been decorated with Cosmatesque mosaics similar to those still existing in the Cathedral.

Reggia di Guaiferio o Palazzo San Massimo - It is one of the symbolic places of the Salerno Medical School, if only because this monastery, which the Lombard prince Guaiferio had built on his property in 865 and dedicated to St. Maximus the Confessor, includes the first hospital of which has news. His intention was to be so rich and powerful as to bring glory to his family for centuries to come. The church has some real jewels, first of all the opus sectile floor, perhaps an original from the 9th century, not to mention the bare columns. PICTURES

Palazzo Lauro Grotto - The building that belonged to the "Lauro Grotto" family is the result of a restructuring that took place in the mid-18th century, even if its erection is certainly older than almost two centuries. The current configuration is the result of some renovations that took place at the end of the 18th century, but some documents show that the family already owned a building in the same area. The structure has a large internal courtyard with a monumental staircase typical of the 17th century that leads to the upper floors and the main floor. Inside the structure an intact 18th-century chapel was found, complete with its original furnishings, including barriers and wooden altars, and its decorations, including some paintings by the Salerno painter Nicola Luciano.

Chiesa dell’Addolorata e Convento di S. Sofia - The complex of the Church of the Addolorata and the Monastery of Santa Sofia has an ancient history. The monastery dates back as a foundation to the 9th century and therefore is of Lombard origin, as evidenced by the name that refers to the Church of Benevento and the imperial church of Constantinople, dedicated to the Saint of knowledge. After various vicissitudes, in 1500 the Jesuits arrived in Salerno and settled in the monastery, building the church in the forms in which we see it today. The beautiful staircase that gives access to the church is proof of the scenic intent characteristic of the Counter-Reformation and of the Jesuits' vocation for sacred representation. The whole square is highly scenographic, in one of the characteristic places of the Roman city, the Forum.

Largo Abate Conforti - Via Tasso, if it constituted the major decumano (with a journey from east to west) of Roman Salerno, at the intersection with the cardo massimo (from north to south, corresponding to the current Via Botteghelle), it saw rise in the current Largo Abate Conforti the forum, the political and commercial center of the city. This is deduced from the discovery of a porticoed space decorated with statues, epigraphs dedicated to the emperor Constantine and his mother Elena and from the base of a statue erected by decree of the city in honor of the patronus Annius Mecius Graccus (IV-V century) for having contributed to the reconstruction of the city damaged by a flood. The forensic square must have been arranged in terraces and cryptoporticos (covered corridors), as evidenced by the findings made in via Trotula de 'Ruggiero, adjacent to Largo Abate Conforti; in the same square, the church of the Addolorata was built on the remains of the Capitoline temple.

Cappella di San Ludovico - The Chapel is on the ground floor of the State Archives and has only recently been recovered and opened to the public. It's a precious testimony of the Angevin Salerno, has a single nave with two bays respectively with barrel vault and cross vaults, which are characterized by the presence of polychrome decorations with cruciform and star motifs, most likely dating back to the mid-14th century. The presence of a pointed arch, the so-called "fornices spiculi" of Arab origin, most likely defines the original structure of the whole monument: the arch itself has an under-arch attributable to the 13th century. The environment clearly reflects the characteristics of a place dedicated to private devotion; in fact, starting from the 14th century, it was customary for noble families to have oratories built where they could gather in prayer and where to house the family tombs. In the second bay, on one of the side walls, framed by a typically Gothic pointed arch, the fresco depicting a saint bishop on a throne placed in a ciborium appears in all its splendor. The saint wears a Franciscan habit and the bishop's miter under his precious habit: the halo and the habit allude to the ecclesiastical office occupied by Ludovico D'Angiò,, second son of Charles II of Anjou, king of Sicily, and of Maria of Hungary, who renounced the throne of Naples, entered the Franciscan order and, after becoming bishop of Tolouse, died in 1296 and was proclaimed a saint in 1317. The fresco, elegantly made in the 14th century, it recalls Provençal painting and has Sienese influences, demonstrating the wealth of influences and contributions that art has collected in Salerno.

Palazzo Cavaselice - The documented history of the block that includes this building begins with a privilege of Gisulfo II of November 1053, exhibited on 12 August 1335 by the procurator of the noble Matteo della Porta, councilor and royal family, son of the soldier Tommaso, demonstrating the legitimate possession of how much his family owned; with this privilege the prince granted the brothers Guaiferio and Alberto, sons of Count Adalferio, defined dilectis parentibus nostra (from which the della Porta descended), the entire church of San Marco, with all the goods, the bathroom and so on. it relevant.