Near Salerno, surrounded by hills, is the attractively situated little town of Cava de' Tirreni (180m/594ft; pop. 50,000), a popular holiday resort. On the hills around the town are dotted slender round towers, many of which are still used to trap wild pigeons in October, the birds being attracted by small white stones thrown from the towers and are then caught in nets.
2.5km/1.5mi southeast of Cava lies Alessia (270m/891ft), from which it is a 45 minutes' walk up Monte San Liberatore (466m/1,538ft), perhaps the finest viewpoint in the Gulf of Salerno.
3.5km/2mi southwest of Cava, on Corpo di Cava, stands the Benedictine abbey of La Trinità della Cava, founded in 1011. The present buildings date from the late 18th century. The church contains marble and mosaic altars, tombs of the earliest abbots and a 12th century marble pulpit. Other notable features are the chapter-house (16th century), the Romanesque cloister (small museum), the old crypt, a picture gallery and the archives.
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