Museum of the Salerno School of Medicine

The old church of S. Gregorio holds the first exhibition of the Salerno School Of Medicine Inside there is an illustrated exhibition of the activities of the school referring to the X - XI - XII centuries which represent the best period.
The exibition is divided into eight sections in which the evolution of the Salerno studies follows according to the various branches of medical knowledge. The exibition has on show testimonies and illustrated documents. The many items and manuscripts both medieval and of a later date, not necessarily from Salerno help to explain the method and theories.
The foundation of the School is, by legend, attributed to four Masters: Helinus, Pontus, Adela and Salernus.
The ars medica of Salerno was determined from the uniting of these four Jewish, Greek, Arabic and Latin cultures. Indeed, the geographical position of Salerno in the very heart of the Mediterranean Sea placed the city in a dominant crosspoint at the centre of important exchanges with East and Africa, promoted by Amalfi and Sicily.
The great cultural revival linked to the fenomenon of Benedectine monasticism, which had its main centre at Montecassino and was reprsented in Salerno by the Abbey of S. Benedetto also played an important role in the evolution of scientific study and therapeutical practice.
The ars medica enriched its store of experimental knowledge both trough its charitable, or to be more precise, hospital activities, wich were carried out in the infirmaries and monasteries, and also trough the work of lay doctors, sometimes women, who first of all performed their experiments separately, and then together with a more speculative and didactic aim.
Historical evidence of the activities of the School goes back to the 10th century, but the first document in which it is articles of Federico II, published in Melfi in 1231, in which it was called the Salerno Medical School, the only one in the kingdom.
In 1280, Carlo I gave it its first statute and continued its activities under changing circumstances up to 1811 when Gioacchino Murat reorganised the public education of the kingdom, and gave Naples University the exclusive right to grant degrees.

Address: ex Chiesa di S. Gregorio - Via Mercanti
Visiting hours: saturdays 10 - 12 a.m.; for special needs call the Soprintendenza BAAAS di Salerno
Telephone: +39 089 2573111 - +39 089 2573220
Admission fare: free