Sacco

On the slopes of Mount Motola (1700 m), among green hills, lies the town of Sacco. Its name, meaning “sack,bag”, perhaps comes from the inaccessible location of its castle ("alveolaris", from the Latin "cul-de-sac"). Not far away, in a stunningly beautiful landscape, are the remains of Old Sacco (aka Castelvecchio), mysteriously abandoned in the Middle Ages.

It is near to Sella del Corticato [13] (1026 m) border line between Cilento and Vallo di Diano. Here Sacco’s citizens helped, for a fee, merchants travelling the so-called "Salt Road", towards Teggiano and the Ionian cities. In a harsh landscape, the pass is set between the walls of Mount Cocuzzo delle Puglie [15] (1400 m) and near Mount Motola towards whose Summit opens a trekking trail. On Mount Motola there is a beautiful forest of Oak, Turkey oak and Holm-oak, inhabited by wild boars, falcons and kites. The trail of the headwaters of Sammaro (in depth) is in an area rich in environmental beauties. In the crystal clear waters of the river Sammaro, tributary of the Calore, lives undisturbed the Otter.

On the road to the famous Roscigno Vecchia (in depth), starts a charming panoramic road which skirts the mountain with its ancient rock terraces.

The beautiful town centre is rich in stone portals. In the town’s square there is the Baroque church of St. Sylvester (17th century), with its "muocci": external terracotta statues portraying St. Nicholas, St. Sebastian and St. Elijah (9th century). It incorporates the existing Church of St. Nicholas (13th c.), of which only the magnificent Bell Tower remains. The interior, rich in stuccoes and artworks of the 17th and 18th century, has three naves, with ten side altars and two chapels. Very interesting is also the chapel of St. Lucy [11] (16th century) and the Church of St. Antony (17th century). In Roma street the Museum of Wood keeps the artistic production by the ébéniste (cabinet-maker) Francesco Coccaro (born in 1901). His works represent moments of the history of mankind: mythology, religion, scientific discoveries and historical figures. Old Sacco can be reached by a mule track; it has enchanting scenery of ruins immersed in nature: those of the old Castle (8th century) and those of the Romanesque church of St. Nicholas of Myra (7th c.).

The Castle
Duke Zottone from Benevento built up the Castle around 600 AD, on top of the rocky hill of Old Sacco. This majestic building has an area of about 3.000 square meters. It consists of a large courtyard, you can enter through a portal with drawbridge, a quadripartite Tower created in the center of the structure, large halls of which only the perimeter walls do exist, eight rooms facing sun, some vaulted rooms, a cistern for collecting rainwater and a large terrace still circumscribed by battlemented walls of Langobard style. Deserve a particular mention the square Tower (with a wall perfectly positioned towards one fundamental cardinal point -a Langobard feature), the crenellated walls (a jewel of Langobard and medieval art) and the entrance with a drawbridge.
In the castle, built to face the Byzantines perched over the Cordillera del Cervati, Duke Zotto of Benevento confined his wife Saccia. It was the Abbot Francesco Sacco, author in 1796 of “Dizionario Istorico Geografico del regno di Napoli” ("Historical Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Naples") to mention that story in volume III, page 229: "this land (the present town of Sacco) it seems it was built around the 8th century by the inhabitants of the land of Castel Vecchio (the village named Old Sacco), where there was a castle built up by Dukes of Benevento, and where Saccia, wife of one of the Dukes, was confined to. Once the Castle had been destroyed, the inhabitants of Castel Vecchio built the present Land, and they wanted to name it Saccia, in memory of Saccia confined to the castle of Castel Vecchio ".

The Castle of Old Sacco let fall into disuse the great city wall: today only the basal trace of them is visible. This work is more than 400 meters long and one meter and a half large: you can admire the huge rocks and the perfection of the building.