ETIMOLOGY AND HISTORY

Morigerati is a small, charming medieval village located in the southern area of Cilento. Its origins date back to a settlement of Basilian monks who (in order to escape from persecution in Greece) during the eighth century took refuge in Southern Italy to find peaceful places, where they could contemplate. The village was founded around the monastery dedicated to San Demetrio, which represented a pole of attraction for people living in this area. The medieval village extends around the Church. The urban structure is in good condition as well as the original roads system, articulated on terraces closed in concentric rings around the place of worship. The latter, built in 1300 on the ruins of an older church, maintains its original volumes as evidenced by the presence of the bell tower dating back to the first settlement. Other significant places of worship are located in the hamlet of Sicilì: Madonna dei Martiri Chapel, The Church of “SS Annunziata” and The Church of San Biagio. The village gateway is the Baronial Castle, which is still the old town’s entrance and an important meeting point for social activities. The building of the castle dates back to the 1300, when the village was fortified.

During 1400 the castle was turned into a palace. Today, the mansion has a central courtyard and a picturesque colonnade overlooked by spaces that still retain original furnishings, wooden ceilings and frescoes. In the courtyard you can visit the private chapel which has been recently restored and dedicated to Madonna delle Grazie. There are other valuable buildings immediately recognizable from the portals and the courtyards. For this landscape Morigerati was awarded in 2015 with the Orange Flag by the Italian Touring Club. In the village area is located the WWF oasis "Bussento Caves": 600 hectares of protected area included in the list of Geoparks. The landscape offers an extraordinary spectacle, the River Bussento (after a long underground journey), reappears just below the village of Morigerati in a picturesque gorge carved by the vigorous and constant work of the River. The relationship between this attractive area and the village is dynamic and is consolidated and strengthened by the production of typical products, extra virgin olive oil DOP, white fig of Cilento DOP, meats and cheeses produced with ancient techniques. An extraordinary and true story of these traditional activities, some of which have disappeared, is kept in the Museum of Ethnography.