After the fall of Western Roman Empire (476 d.C.), Ostrogoths occupied the town called Molpa. The Eastern emperor Giustiniano wanted to send away this barbaric population, so he sent in Italy the general Belisario. He arrived in 547 to turn out Ostrogoths but he sacked the town and burnt it, destroying everything and making the inhabitants escape. One hundred inhabitants arrived to the hills and settled at the feet of Fontanelle mountain, in a safe place, called Vallone. The place was called Centula, because the founders were one hundred (cento).
Centola was dominated by Longobards, Normans, Svevians, Angevins, Aragons, Bourbon family. During Longobard period Centola developed.
Around 1250, during Svevian period, Centola became a Universitas, that is a Municipality.
In 1828 the inhabitants of Centola took part to the rebellion of Cilento of 27th /28th June 1828.
The rebels went to Palinuro because they knew they would have found 1500 guns, 12 cannons and munitions. But Bourbons had been alerted about their arrival and the rebels didn't find anything in the arsenal. The rebels read “Il Proclama di Palinuro”, a manifesto in which they asked for a constitution that would give freedom and social justice to everyone.
The rebellion didn’t succeed, it was violently repressed by Marshal Del Carretto, sent by King Francesco I.
Origin of the Name Palinuro.
The name of the place itself evokes the figure of Aeneas' helmsman, Palinuro, who fell in love with a beautiful girl named Kamaratòn, chasing her image to the bottom of the cliffs of the Cape, which since then took his name. This beauty is abundantly poured out in fiery sunsets, in the shape of rocky coves and marine caves, in the natural arch illuminated in backlight, in the white beaches that classify this place as one of the most beautiful in the world.