"Norman" Towers Of Salerno

One of the romantic and very attractive things of this region were for me "Norman" Towers. I think you will agree with me if you look at this photo. This is the tower of Vietri Sul Mare, the town situated about 3 km from Salerno. The part of earth that you see on the right is Amalfi Coast.

Once I read about the next on the right tower, the tower of Cetara: the owner wanted to sell it and wanted 2 millions for it. Maybe it was not too much for a building like this.

Interesting is that these towers have nothing common with Normans. They were built after 1537 to protect the coasts from the Saracens and others. The joke of the fate was that they were never more useful.

In these towers lived a corporal and 4 soldiers. They had to guard the sea day and night. If they wanted to eat, thay had to go to the resident persons and ask them for food.
The ships navigated near the coast at that time and on the place in the top of th tower was a cannon to fire transgressors.

The tower over here is in Salerno today. But about 100 years ago the people lived only inside the town-walls. And this place was far from the town.

As you see, the latest owners of the towers use them for different aims. They build houses on the places for cannons. I've seen the plans of some of these towers, they have staircases inside and maybe 2-3 little rooms without windows. So, the only possibility to live there is to build a house on the top.

Incredible, but people in Salerno live in the houses built thousands of years ago.