Acciaroli: The Cilento Port That Inspired Hemingway and The Old Man

Ernest Hemingway stayed in Acciaroli in the 1950s. Some scholars believe that Santiago the fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" carries something of the humanity Hemingway encountered in this Cilento port. It is not a certainty, but it is one of the most credible literary legends of the twentieth century — and Acciaroli, with its fishermen who still go out every night by boat, makes that story possible.

The Fishermen's Port and Cilento Tuna

Acciaroli's port is a working port, not a luxury marina. Wooden boats painted white and blue go out at sunset and return at dawn with full nets. Cilento bluefin tuna is still caught in artisanal fashion, and in Acciaroli you can buy it directly from the fishermen at the dock. The informal fresh-fish market runs every morning between six and eight: anchovies, garfish, bream, and — in season — tuna steaks at prices that would seem made up in northern supermarkets.

The Centenarians of Acciaroli

In 2016 a team of Italian and American researchers from Sapienza University and UC San Diego published a scientific study on the extraordinary longevity of the inhabitants of Acciaroli and Pollica: one in ten residents was a centenarian, a concentration three times the national average. Theories range from diet — fish, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil — to lifestyle habits and sea air. The Municipality of Pollica, of which Acciaroli is a hamlet, has adopted the Mediterranean diet as public policy.

How to Visit Acciaroli

Acciaroli is reachable by car (exit Battipaglia from the motorway, then about an hour on provincial roads) or by the Campania-Lucania local railway from Paestum. The town has few hotels, a handful of family-run B&Bs, and a clutch of restaurants where you eat superbly for fifteen to twenty euros. The ideal months are May, June, and September: the sea is already swimmable, the port is lively without being overcrowded, and the bar terraces still have seats available at sunset.