Salerno

Salerno (sälār`nō), city (1991 pop. 148,932), capital of Salerno prov., Campania, S Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is an agricultural, commercial, and industrial center. Manufactures include machinery, textiles, construction materials, and processed food. Originally a Greek settlement and later a Roman colony (founded 197 B.C.), Salerno became (6th cent.) a part of the duchy of Benevento and in the 9th cent. the seat of an independent principality, which fell to Robert Guiscard in 1076. In Sept., 1943, there was fierce fighting on the beaches near Salerno between the Allied landing forces and the Germans, who were pressed to retreat toward Naples. Of note in Salerno is the Sicilian-Norman cathedral (11th cent; redone in the 18th cent.), with the tomb of Pope Gregory VII and an impressive 12th-century pulpit. The famous medical school of Salerno (founded in the 9th cent., closed in the early 19th cent.) is believed to have been the first of its kind and reached its height in the 12th cent.

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Salerno

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 144,078), southern Italy. Located on the Gulf of Salerno, it was founded by the Romans in 197 BC on the site of an earlier town. Part of a Lombard duchy from AD 646, it was the capital of an independent Lombard principality from 839 to c. 1076. It was then conquered by the Norman Robert Guiscard and became his capital. It was later incorporated into the Kingdom of Naples. During World War II, Salerno's coast was the scene of a major battle (September 1943) between Allied landing forces and German troops. It is an active seaport in an industrial area; its landmarks include a medical school (the earliest in Europe, probably founded in the 9th century) and the cathedral (845, rebuilt 1076–85) that contains the tombs of St. Matthew and Pope Gregory VII.

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Salerno

a port in SW Italy, in Campania on the Gulf of Salerno: first medical school of medieval Europe. Pop.: 138 188 (2001)

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Salerno 

a city in southern Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Capital of Salerno Province, Campania. Population, 154,500 (1971). Salerno has machine-building, chemical, food, tobacco, textile, and clothing industries; building materials are also produced. The city has a port with a freight turnover of 257,000 tons (1971). It has a university (1944).

Salerno is mentioned by classical authors as a Roman colony (from 197 B.C.). In the 11th to 13th centuries, the city was known for its medical school—the first secular medical school in Europe—where instruction was based on Greek and Arab medical achievements and where great importance was placed on experimentation and observations. In the 12th and 13th centuries Salerno was an important handicraft and commercial center. In 1647 and 1648 there was a popular uprising against Spanish domination in the city, which, together with all of southern Italy, had come under the control of Aragon in 1442. During World War II, Salerno was the disembarkation site for the Allied forces in Italy (September 1943).