Sarno | ||
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Comune | ||
Comune di Sarno | ||
The St. Michael Cathedral
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Location of Sarno in Italy | ||
Coordinates: 40°49′N 14°37′E / 40.817°N 14.617°E | ||
Country | Italy | |
Region | Campania | |
Province / Metropolitan city | Salerno (SA) | |
Frazioni | Foce, Episcopio, Lavorate | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Giuseppe Canfora | |
Area | ||
• Total | 39 km2 (15 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 30 m (100 ft) | |
Population (31 449) | ||
• Total | 31,463 | |
• Density | 810/km2 (2,100/sq mi) | |
Demonym(s) | Sarnesi | |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
Postal code | 84087 | |
Dialing code | 081 | |
Patron saint | St. Michael | |
Saint day | May 8 | |
Website | Official website |
Sarno is a town and comune and former Latin Catholic bishopric of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 20 km northeast from the city of Salerno and 60 km east of Naples by the main railway.
It lies at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, near the sources of the Sarno River, called Sarnus in ancient times, a stream connected by canal with Pompei and the sea.
Paper, cotton, silk, linen and hemp are manufactured. The travertine which forms round the springs of the Sarno was used even at ancient Pompeii as building material.
The area of Sarno was inhabited since Neolithic times, and in pre-historical times housed Oscan and Samnites settlements. Later it was acquired by the Romans, who held it until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. The first nucleus of the future Sarno grew in the 8th century around a castle founded by the Lombards of Benevento.
Before its incorporation to the domains of the crown of Naples, Sarno gave its name to a county held in succession by the Orsini, Coppola, Tuttavilla, and Colonna families.
On May 5, 1998 Sarno and the neighbouring villages of Quindici, Siano and Bracigliano were devastated by a series of landslides. 180 houses were destroyed, 450 severely damaged, and 161 people died in what was one of the biggest catastrophes of its kind in modern Italy. The landslides had been caused by several days of torrential rainfalls, but were also blamed on agricultural, residential and industrial overexploitation and the lack of any substantial environmental programs. The catastrophe prompted the Italian Ministry of the Environment to introduce a couple of legislative measures for environmental protection which have come to be known as legge Sarno.