The Stretto and the Sasso dei Greci

The Stretto is a gorge barely 5 metres wide, enclosed between two towering rock cliffs, which you cross going up the isthmus route from the Corvino valley towards the Varco del Palombaro. On top of the cliff to the right of the stream lies the Sasso dei Greci, a small plateau in the Salvato area: here stood the first dwellings of one of the three hamlets from which Buonvicino was born, and visible traces remain; excavations in 1978 and on 20 February 1997 brought to light fragments of tiles and plates and animal bones. On the left-hand cliff, in a small valley enclosed by three equidistant rocky peaks, was Tripidone, where a hand-made iron dagger was found among some walls north-east of the Stretto. The two villages had little land, mostly woods and mountains, and lived from herding and woodland work; from their naturally defended position they controlled passage along the route. According to local history, people from the coast threatened by wars and raids found refuge here; at the end of the 13th century the union of Salvato, Tripidone and Trigiano gave life to Buonvicino.