Elevation 683 m (2,241 ft) Area 58 km² Local time Monday 1:02 PM Patron saint Saint Barbara | Frazioni Carnale Demonym(s) Corletani Postal code 84020 Dialling code 0828 | |
 | ||
Weather 11°C, Wind SW at 24 km/h, 87% Humidity | ||
Corleto Monforte (Curléte in Neapolitan) is a town and comune with 615 residents in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.
Contents
Map of 84020 Corleto Monforte Province of Salerno, Italy
History
Corleto Monforte gets its name from the Latin word coryletum, meaning "a thicket of hazeltrees" (Corylus avellana). "Monforte", from the Latin words mons fortis meaning "strong mountain", refers to the location's history as a fortification for feudal lords.
Francesco Torre, in his book Cenni storici di Corleto Monforte ("A Brief History of Corleto Monforte"), published in 1893, recounts some of the theories on the origin of the town's name:
The first title given to Corleto, as is found in historical documents, was 'Cornito,' which became 'Corneto' over time by one of those simple changes which occur in the other names of towns and cities. There are various opinions regarding the origin of this name. Some believe that Cornito, or Corneto, derives from cor nitidum, [Latin, meaning splendid heart]; others from the fact that the estate was abundant in horned animals [from Italian cornuto, meaning horned]; and, finally, others maintain that the town was called Cornito on account of the cornus arbor, as there were forests of dogwood (Cornus mas) in the area. From these three versions, the third seems to us to be more plausible, because the ancient Lucani, as related by Varro, the Antonines, and other ancient historians, were accustomed to give towns their name based on the nature of the site where they settled; and Corleto in those times was abundant, as it is still now, in dogwood. The reason for which Corneto was changed to Corleto with the turn of the centuries, we do not know. Thanks only to the aid of philology and tradition are we able to posit that the Corletani, on account of a joyful heart, named their town cor laetum [Latin, joyful heart], and this too explains the fact that Corleto uses a heart on its crest.
From 1811 to 1860 it was part of the region of Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, which belonged to the District of Campania during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
From 1860 to 1927, during the Kingdom of Italy, Corleto Monforte was a part of the mandamento of Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, still nominally within the District of Campania.
To ensure that Corleto was distinct from other towns of the same name, the Corletani appended the phrase "at Fasanella", indicating "opposite old Fasanella", to the town's name. Following the ministerial agreement of June 30, 1862, the Town Council of Corleto replaced "at Fasanella" with the word "Monforte", effective after deliberation on November 18 of the same year.
Geography
Corleto is situated in the north-west of Cilento, in the vicinity of Cilento National Park in Valdiano at the foot of the Alburni Mountains.
It is located off a country road that connects it to Postiglione and continues to the Castelcivita Caves, to the south of Strada Statale 166. The old town, which constitutes almost all of the village, stands next to a ravine overlooking the Fasanella river valley.
The only hamlet is Carnale, which consists of a scattered group of houses and farmsteads and is situated along a trunk road.