Santa Maria di Castellabate is a frazione

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...

of Castellabate

Castellabate

Castellabate is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.-History:The are was inhabited since Upper Palaeolithic times...

, a commune 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...

, southern Italy. It is the largest frazione of its comune and of the province. It is also the seat

Seat (legal entity)

In strict legal language, the term seat defines the seat of a corporation or organisation as a legal entity, indicating where the headquarters of this entity are located...

 of the town hall.

History

The town was known in the 18th century as "Isca delle Chitarre", its original area and now the old town. The downtown is extended by two squares, Piazza Matarazzo and Piazza Lucia and the oldest houses are located in front of the little harbour in a place named "Porte le Gatte".

Geography

Santa Maria lies in the central-northern side of the Cilento

Cilento

Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.-Geography:...

, alongside the Tyrrhenian Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....

, and is extended from the zone of Lago, to the beach of Pozzillo. The town is only 3 km away from the old town of Castellabate, 12 from Agropoli

Agropoli

Agropoli is a town and comune located in the Cilento area of the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy. It is situated at the start of the Cilento coast, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its population is 21.251.-Pre-medieval period:...

, 20 from Acciaroli

Acciaroli

Acciaroli is an Italian hamlet of Pollica , located in Campania region and the greatest one of its comune.-Geography:...

 and 60 from 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....

. The town has a little harbour, the greatest port in the comune is at the nearer hamlet of San Marco.

Tourism

The town is a part of "Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park

The Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park is an Italian national park founded in 1991...

", its natural environment is composed of "Maquis

Maquis shrubland

thumb|220px|Low Maquis in Corsica.220px|thumb|High macchia in Sardinia.Maquis or macchia is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs such as holm oak, tree heath, strawberry tree, sage, juniper, buckthorn, spurge olive and myrtle...

", which is typical of mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 countries.
It attracts a lot of tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, especially in summer, because of good road links to Agropoli, Salerno and Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and because of the quality of its water; which give it the Blue Flag beach

Blue Flag beach

The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...

  award every year from 2003.

Media

Benvenuti al Sud

Benvenuti al Sud

Benvenuti al Sud is an Italian adaption of French comedy film Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis directed by Luca Miniero. The plot is similar to the original version: the manager of a postal service in northern Italy, near Milan, is banished for two years in southern Italy, in Castellabate, a town near...

, an Italian adaptation of the 2008

2008 in film

This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...

 French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 film Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis

Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis

Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis is a 2008 French comedy film starring Kad Merad, Dany Boon and Zoé Félix.The film has broken nearly every box office record in France: it debuted as the top film with US$31.67 million at 793 sites. As of 28 February 2010, the film had been seen by 20.5 million people in...

, has been set in Castellabate

Castellabate

Castellabate is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.-History:The are was inhabited since Upper Palaeolithic times...

 and partly in Santa Maria and San Marco.

External links

• Santa Maria (on the site of its comune)