Hotel Scapolatiello Cava de’ Tirreni

Historic residence with wonderful views over the countryside
 

The Hotel Scapolatiello's elegant dining
terrace overlooks beautiful countryside

In the wooded hills above Cava de’ Tirreni, which is ten kilometres (six miles) northwest of the town of Salerno, the Hotel Scapolatiello is the perfect place for a relaxing break.

Located in a wonderful position overlooking the surrounding countryside, Hotel Scapolatiello has large, comfortable guest rooms, a garden with a swimming pool and a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can eat in either the elegant dining room or on the terrace looking out over the garden. The restaurant takes pride in using local cheeses, fruit and vegetables and has its own label wine and preserves. The menu features some unusual antipasto combinations, risotto, pasta and meat dishes.

The Scapolatiello's risotto with mushrooms
and savings of provola cheese

The Hotel Scapolatiello first opened its doors to visitors in 1821 and has entertained many of the famous people who have visited the nearby L’Abbazia della Santissima Trinita, known locally as La Badia. One of the most important religious centres in southern Italy, La Badia celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 2011.

Hotel Scapolatiello is in Piazza Risorgimento in the centre of Corpo di Cava, a small walled village three kilometres to the south of Cava de’ Tirreni.

Editor’s note

‘I have lovely memories of enjoying lunch on the terrace of the historic Hotel Scapolatiello overlooking their immaculate garden. I was given complimentary mini calzoni filled with cheese, tomatoes and ham before the risotto with provola that I had ordered. I sampled the hotel’s own label Falanghina, which was delicious.’

What to see in Cava de' Tirreni

Cava de’ Tirreni may not be as well known as Naples, Sorrento and Salerno, but it was once the preferred stopping off place for travellers on the Grand Tour visiting Pompei, the Amalfi coast or Paestum

For centuries, Cava enjoyed a free port at Vietri sul Mare and became prosperous through trading in silk tapestries, leather goods and ceramics. The city also became known for its skilled engineers and craftsmen..

Cava de' Tirreni's porticoed streets provide
shelter from the summer heat 

Cava was given the full name Cava de’ Tirreni, acknowledging its earliest known inhabitants, after Italian unification in 1861 and it has remained an elegant, civilised town with beautiful architecture

The city has earned itself the title of ‘the Bologna of the south’ because of its half kilometre of elegant porticoed streets in the centre. The oldest porticoes were built in the 15th century in front of single storey shops so that goods could be displayed and trade carried out sheltered from the sun. At 47km (29 miles) south of Naples, Cava is hot during the summer.

The traders built living accommodation over their shops and many of the buildings have ornate facades and pretty balconies. Today, fashion boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and pastry shops do business behind the ancient porticoes..

Intriguing glimpses of the mountains on both sides of Cava de’ Tirreni can be seen from the end of many of the streets. Look out for Monte Castello, a triangular shaped mountain with a castle on the top, which appears in the skyline at different places in the centre of town.

The Abbazia Benedettina della Santissima Trinità - known also as La Badia di Cava - is three kilometres from the centre of Cava de’ Tirreni. Behind the 18th century façade lie the original 11th century church and cloisters, a chapel with a magnificent 15th century majolica floor and a museum and library. The abbey was built in 1011 after a nobleman, Alferio Pappacarbone, retired to the area to pray and other worshippers gathered around him. La Badia went on to become the religious hub of southern Italy and Pope Bonifacio IX made Cava a city in its own right, separate from Salerno, in 1394. The abbey was given a baroque facade in the 18th century but retains its original architectural details inside.

La Badia nestles in the wooded hills a few
kilometres outside Cava de' Tirreni

Cava de’ Tirreni is surrounded by hills with pretty villages that have medieval towers, built for a dove hunting game. Starting from Annunziata you can follow a circuit, passing eight towers along the way, before arriving back at the same village.

North of Cava de’ Tirreni lies the nature park of Diecimare, also known as Parco Due Golfi because it has views over the bay of Naples and Vesuvius to the north and the bay of Salerno to the south. It is home to beautiful plants, flowers, birds and animals and visitors can choose to follow different panoramic paths.

There are regular trains and buses to Pompei, which is half an hour away from Cava de’ Tirreni. As well as the world famous scavi, the excavated remains of the original Roman town, Pompei has a church that has become a centre for pilgrims, il Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario in Piazza Bartolo Longo.

Cava de’ Tirreni has become known as ‘the green gateway to the Amalfi coast’ as it is close to  the resort of Vietri sul Mare and the village of Cetara, where you can sample their famous pasta dish, spaghetti with colatura di alici, a type of sauce made from anchovies, thought to derive from an ancient Roman recipe.

Eating out in Cava de’ Tirreni

Pacheri allo scarpiello, with fresh tomatoes,
is a Cava speciality dish

On restaurant menus you will see pacheri, the local tube shaped pasta, served either allo scarpariello with ‘shoemaker’s sauce’ made with fresh tomato, cheese and basil, or con carciofi e provola (with artichokes and cheese).

There are many dishes featuring fresh, local fish and southern Italian classics such as fritto misto.

Light dry, fragrant Falanghina is a white wine that goes perfectly with fish and dishes made with mozzarella, such as insalata caprese. Cava de’ Tirreni is in the prime territory for the best Falanghina wines made from grapes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, along the Sorrentine peninsula or near the Amalfi coast. 

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