The Coast of Sirens: From Paestum to Pisciotta, Palinuro and Policastro

Abstract

The aim of this research is to fill a gap in the network of long walking routes in South Italy by studying, rediscovering and reopening the ancient walking routes along the southern coast of the Campania Region in a way to find a sustainable way of development in a region where every year hundreds of young people emigrate, letting a desolate ensemble of empty villages.
The coastal walking route will make tourists and locals discover beautiful beaches and pristine natural areas, with cultural treasures like rural chapels, archeological sites, medieval villages, ancient farmhouses and watermills.
I myself started historical researches and a hard work of reopening tracks cutting wild bushes and trees.
The coastal walking route retraces ancient roads who had been the only way of transportation for centuries, together with shipping, also used for the “transumanza”, the seasonal migration of livestock (cultural heritage by UNESCO) with the aim of connecting all the small branches already walkable, together with the collection of technical data useful to plan the due works in order to reopen abandoned tracks.
There is a social tissue of guides, farmers, accommodation facilities and service providers that can gets its income from this walking routes that can work all year long. The method of this research is predominantly empirical and the result of direct field experience from my work as a tourism entrepreneur and hiking guide.
For this reason, some concepts are not supported by bibliographical references but are the result of the ongoing debate among tourism entrepreneurs, tour operators and hiking guides and worthy of reporting as they reflect the current picture of the situation, projects and proposals for tourism and economic development coming directly from the market.