The Cilen­to is an out­stand­ing cul­tur­al land­scape. The dra­mat­ic groups of sanc­tu­ar­ies and set­tle­ments along its three east-west moun­tain ridges vivid­ly por­tray the area‘s his­tor­i­cal evo­lu­tion: it was a major route not only for trade, but also for cul­tur­al and polit­i­cal inter­ac­tion dur­ing the pre­his­toric and medieval peri­ods. The Cilen­to was also the bound­ary between the Greek colonies of Magna Grae­cia and the indige­nous Etr­uscan and Lucan­ian peo­ples. The remains of two major cities from clas­si­cal times, Paes­tum and Velia, are found there.