A Buccinese born overseas writes “There is no comparison with staying there and walking through those places. It is as if the roots of the earth reached out from their depths to the point of penetrating the soles of our feet, recognizing themselves as the heirs of those who left…proper of that land.”
Perched on the edge of a karst plateau, 663 meters above sea level and located at the foot of Mount Marzano, in the lower valley of the Bianco river, there is the town of what was originally the ancient city of Volcei, today Buccino, an archaeological and tourist center of theCampania Apennines, where part of its population emigrated to the Americas at the end of the 19th century to return to their country of origin after generations.
Those of Buccino have profound origins, well documented thanks to its numerous and incredible discoveries, silent witnesses of millennia of history experienced by various human settlements A museum town, in an uninterrupted temporal sequence that goes from prehistory to late antiquity. Among necropolises from different eras, tombs and sanctuaries from the Lucanian, Roman and Augustan periods, without forgetting its rock settlements from the 7th century. A.D. and the Norman Angevin Castle with its different phases of life, from the 12th to the 20th century AD, all of this is Buccino! A concentration of archeology and an impressive collection of over 5,000 historical artefacts, today, well preserved in the 1600 m2 museum area, inside the historic convent of the Hermits of S.Agostino and its cloister designed by Maestro Natale da Ragusa. A fifteenth-century building believed by many to be the seat of the oldest Augustinian monastic foundation in the Salerno area.
An emblematic place, a symbol of pride and cultural identity for the municipality of Buccino, which for a while remained closed to the public and finally reopened last November 2023 under the management of the “Terra Cilento” association, made up of people of different ages and local territorial provenance, people who have gone out and returned home, who see in this museum project a good reason to stay and believe in, just as it was for Buccino’s native philologist and papyrologist, Marcello Gigante, to whom the same project is named museum and whose establishment he fervently hoped for.
This museum complex has great potential, linked to the various educational initiatives that interact directly with visitors of all ages and backgrounds that the association itself organizes and implements. The aim is to make a normal visit to the museum something more interactive linked to the experience, thanks to the workshops that teach you the study and creation of period artefacts, the tastings of typical and historical products consumed directly at the museum to make you feel the tastes of the past and many other activities that make this cultural center a place of experimentation and authentic conviviality.
The reopening of the museum marks not only an important milestone for the community of Buccino, but also a step forward in affirming the culture and historical identity of the region. It is an invitation open to all to rediscover the roots and history of the territory through its priceless archaeological treasures.
