Municipality of the Cilento area in the province of Salerno, Pollica is located at the feet of Mount Stella, between the mouth of the river Alento and the tip of Punta Licosa. The first historical report in which Pollica is named is a document dated 1113 attesting the property disposal of certain lands of Torgisio II Sanseverino to the Abbey of Cava de' Tirreni. At the end of the XIII century, the village became part of a fief under the domain of the Alemagna, then it was ceded to the Capano, originally of Rocca Cilento. The princes of Capano ruled here, until the last heir died (1795), when the fief was inherited by the Lords De Liguori, that maintained their rights until the subversion of feudalism.
Sites of Interest:
- the Castle of the Princes Capano, which was inherited in 1920 by Guido d'Alment, who had followed Charles I of Anjou during his visit in Italy, and was later ceded to the Capano family. The present structure is the result of architectural restoration completed in 1610 at the behest of Vincenzo Capano. Quaint is the mighty square tower that features three floors, each with a lancet window and which dominates the small town. Striking are the functional areas of the castle (the ugliaro, the mill, the guard posts and the stables), intact in their simplicity. Here, according to local traditions, stayed Saint Alfonso De 'Liguori, who visited Pollica to study the pagan rites, then in use in the Cilento. One of the halls of the Castle is today entitled to St. Alfonso;
- the Franciscan Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which was started in 1611 and completed in 1625, after many vicissitudes that repeatedly decreed the closure and reopening, it has now been operating continuously since 1931, when it was restored and embellished and reactivated by father Vincenzo Riccio from Siano. The church hosts four altars, located on each side wall and of which three are surmounted by the crest of the Capano family. Worthy of note are the paintings at the sides of the altar, attributed to the artist Malinconico, a follower of Luca Giordano; the coffered wooden ceiling, by Giuseppe Marrocco from Celso, which at the center houses a painting by M. Cilento, depicting the Assumption. Finally, not to miss, the wooden choir of the XVIII century, the organ of 1741, the vestry with its wooden ceiling, a large wooden cabinet of 1772 and a shell carved stone basin;
- the Church of St. Peter, which is the oldest of Pollica. Built in 1524, it was of public oratory that belonged to the Pepe Family. The church, today desecrated, features on the entrance portal the family's coat of arms and inside, in the nave, a beautiful altar in polychrome marble and a stone holy water font.