Giffoni Valle Piana is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Salerno

Province of Salerno

The Province of Salerno is a province in the Campania region of Italy.-Geography:The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 139,579; Cava de' Tirreni with a population of 53,488; Battipaglia with a population of 51,115; and Nocera Inferiore which has a...

 in the Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

 region of south-west Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Economy is mostly based on agriculture, with the presence of a small number of light industries and services firms.

History

Giffoni area was theseat of the ancient town of Picenza, which was destroyed two times by the Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 in the cours of their conquest of southern Italy.

Geography

The town is situated in an hill zone by the Picentini mountains

Monti Picentini

thumb|300px|Rocky limestone landscape in the monti Picentini.The Monti Picentini is a mountain range and national park in southern Italy, part of the Apennines, traditionally part in the Campanian Apennines...

. The municipality is extended from the urban and industrial area between Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

 and Pontecagnano to the mountain range at the borders with the Province of Avellino

Province of Avellino

The Province of Avellino is a province in the Campania region of Italy. The area is typified by many small towns and villages scattered across the province; in fact only two towns have a population over 20,000; its capital city Avellino and Ariano Irpino....

. It borders with the municipalities of Acerno

Acerno

Acerno, is a town and in the province of Salerno in the region of Campania in south-western Italy.-Geography:Acerno, population 2,867 at the end of March 2009, is a small town, or large village, located 40 km north-east of the provincial capital of Salerno at 727 metres above sea level in...

, Calvanico

Calvanico

Calvanico is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy....

, Giffoni Sei Casali

Giffoni Sei Casali

Giffoni Sei Casali is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. .-Geography:The municipality is situated in an hill zone by the Picentini mountain range...

, Montecorvino Pugliano

Montecorvino Pugliano

Montecorvino Pugliano is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy.The communal seat is in Pugliano; no one of the population nuclei of the municipality is called "Montecorvino", a toponym related to the nearby commune of Montecorvino...

, Montecorvino Rovella

Montecorvino Rovella

Montecorvino Rovella is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy.-Geography:Montecorvino borders with the municipalities of Acerno, Battipaglia, Bellizzi, Giffoni Valle Piana, Montecorvino Pugliano and Olevano sul Tusciano.It includes the frazioni of...

, Montella

Montella

Montella is a town with 7,979 inhabitants, comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. The zone was inhabited already in the neolithic period. The town was born like Sannites' village in the I millennium a.C., to become a Municipality of Roman empire and town under the...

, Pontecagnano Faiano

Pontecagnano Faiano

Pontecagnano Faiano is a town and comune of the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. Its population as of 2009 was of 25,096 inhabitants...

, Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

, San Cipriano Picentino

San Cipriano Picentino

San Cipriano Picentino is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southern Italy....

 and Serino

Serino

Serino is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.Famous for its very clean water source, Serino is found 51 km from Naples, 21 km from Salerno, and 8 km from Avellino. Serino is also famous for its production of chestnuts....

.

Giffoni is divided into 14 frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

and Mercato , commonly also identified simply as Giffoni Valle Piana, is the administrative seat. The other parisehs are Catelde, Chiaravallisi, Chieve, Curti, Curticelle, Ornito, San Giovanni, Santa Caterina, Santa Maria a Vico, Sardone, Sovvieco, Terravecchia and Vassi.

Giffoni Film Festival

From 1971 the town hosts an international children's film festival.

External links

• Official website