The city of Sapri has very ancient origins and is considered the heart of the Gulf of Policastro. In Roman times the bay and its hinterland were held in high esteem; visited by Cicero who called it "parva gem maris inferi" (small gem of the South Sea). Sapri is best known for the tragic expedition of Carlo Pisacane on June 28, 1857, remembered in verse by the famous poem the "Spigolatrice di Sapri" by Luigi Mercantini.