Cava de' Tirreni (; Cilentan: A Càva) is a city and comune in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, northwest of the town of Salerno. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a popular tourist resort. The abbey of La Trinità della Cava is located there. Geography Overview Cava de' Tirreni lies among the hills close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of the Amalfi Coast and serving in practice as its northern gateway. The inhabited area is 198 m above sea level, in a valley situated between two mountain groups: the Lattari Mountains (which separate Cava from the Amalfi Coast) to the west and the Picentini Mountains to the east. Many of Cava's citizens reside in the hills surrounding the town. Cava is bordered to the north by Nocera Superiore, Roccapiemonte and Mercato San Severino; to the east by Baronissi, Pellezzano and Salerno; to the south by Vietri sul Mare and Maiori; and to the west by Tramonti. The town is a link between the geographical area of Agro Nocerino Sarnese (flat, with an agricultural and industrial economy) and the Sorrento Peninsula (mountainous, with an economy based on tourism). Frazioni The of Cava are: Alessia, Annunziata, Arcara, Casaburi-Rotolo, Castagneto, Corpo di Cava, Croce, Dupino, Marini, Passiano, Pregiato, San Cesareo, San Pietro, Sant'Anna, Sant'Arcangelo, San Martino, Santa Lucia, Santa Maria del Rovo, Santi Quaranta. History The church and the greater part of the abbey buildings were entirely modernized in 1796. The old Gothic cloisters are preserved. The church contains a fine organ and several ancient sarcophagi. The archives, now national property, include fine incunabula, documents and manuscripts of great value (including the Codex Legum Longobardorum of 1004 and the La Cava Bible). Main sights Abbey of La Trinità della Cava, founded in 1011. Features include the ambon with mosaics (12th century), the grotto of St. Alferius, the Romanesque cloister (13th century) and the large library, housing more than 50,000 volumes. Cathedral (Duomo), begun in 1517 and opened in 1571. Sanctuary of St. Francis and St. Anthony, an early 16th-century structure restored after the 1980 earthquake had damaged it. The façade is in tuff and travertine, with three large arches, the central one surmounted by a balcony. The main portal has a series of friezes sculpted in 1528 by local masters and containing scenes from the Gospels. The belltower, with three orders,