Campania Geography

Campania's coast is built on volcanic ground. Mount Vesuvius rises directly behind Naples, and the Phlegrean Fields (Campi Flegrei), a caldera of overlapping volcanic craters west of the city, underlie much of the metropolitan area itself, including ground beneath parts of Naples and Pozzuoli. This volcanic soil is exceptionally fertile, which is one reason the plain around Vesuvius has supported dense agriculture and settlement despite the region's documented eruption history.

South of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula separates the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Salerno. Its southern flank forms the Amalfi Coast, where limestone cliffs drop steeply to the sea and towns were built into terraces cut from the slope rather than on open ground -- a layout that still limits road access and vehicle capacity today. The island of Capri, at the peninsula's tip, shares this same limestone geology.

Inland, the land rises into the Apennine Mountains, including the Matese and Picentini ranges, where the climate and economy shift toward livestock, cereals, and forestry rather than coastal tourism. Further south, the Cilento coast and its national park preserve a less developed stretch of coastline and mountain landscape, recognized by UNESCO for both its natural terrain and its Greek and medieval archaeological remains at Paestum and Velia.