I promised to my new friends from GEN (Group of the Escursionists-Naturalists) to guide them on their exploration of the Old Town of Salerno and to find the way to get hiking to the castel of Salerno. There is a road to reach the castel but it is too long and dangerous enough, too. I wanted to find a direct pass. Do you think, it's easy? No. All the passes are closed by the owners of the grounds.
The same problem we have here, on our hill. Years ago, it was possible to hike everywhere, to pick up herbs, to enjoy the wild life. Now, we can't climb the hills because there are fences everywhere.
Thinking about this excursion, I wanted to show you how was the life in a castel.
Castels could control the territory where not so many obstacles as in modern times. All the strip of the beach was clearly visible for kilometers (I measured once that the seaside of Salerno is about 6 or 7 km's long. And it's possible to see much more from the castel.
The enemies could not reach it easily from the beach side: the hill is rocky (that we have to learn during our excursion) and even if someone is able to acchieve the walls, he couls find only hostile holes throwing out arrows, stones and hot oil or water.
If one of the enemies could enter the door, a great hole under the feet met him (covered with the glass today).It's unpossible to jump it.
The holes in the wall here show that there was something to stay at there, but the yards are separate. So even if a group of the enemies could enter THIS yard, they do not enter other parts of the castel.
Internal rooms were not less protective. In fact, more clever governors used such fortifications as prisons -castel of Salerno, too.
(This foto of torture tool is not from Salerno)
That is why, prisoners of all times applyed to the Saints for protection (picture on the wall of the castel of Salerno applying to the S.Leonard and S. Catherine)
