SARNO

town, Salerno provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy, at the foot of Saretto hill near the sources of the Sarno (ancient Sarnus) River, just northwest of Salerno. Near Sarno in AD 553, Teias, king of the Goths, was defeated and slain by the Byzantine general Narses. Malaria retarded the growth of the town for centuries. The ruined medieval castle belonged to Francesco Coppola, Count of Sarno, who took part in the barons' conspiracy in 1485 against the Aragonese king of Naples, Ferdinand I. The countship of Sarno was also held by the Orsini, Suttavilla, and Colonna families, before passing to the crown of Naples. Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, is buried in the 13th-century Church of Sta. Maria della Foce (rebuilt 1701). Sarno is an agricultural centre with hemp and cotton mills; there are hot mineral springs nearby. Pop. (1991 prelim.) mun., 27,816.