The Cultural Pyramid of Cilento (Italian: Piramide Culturale del Cilento) is a geometric drawing created in 2020 by the poet Menotti Lerro representing the epicenter of the Empathism.^[1] The Pyramid shape came out adding the "Cultural Triangle" founded by Lerro at the historical summits of high cultural tradition of the Cilento area.^[2][3]

The Triangle starts from Omignano (and from Monte Stella (Cilento)) - "The Aphorisms Village", and then joins Salento^[4][5] - "The Poetry Village" and Vallo della Lucania - "Seat of the Contemporary Center of the Arts", summit, the latter, which also coincides with the center of the base of the entire Pyramid.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]} On 13 July 2022 the mayor of the municipality of Salento Cilento, Gabriele De Marco, symbolically gift the territory to found also the Republic of Poets (a micronation located in Salento Cilento) with an official letter sent to the poet Menotti Lerro.^[12][13][14]

The Pyramid vertices are: Monte Stella (Cilento) (with his megaliths which are recognized as the empathic ancient gods of the Movement), Omignano, Salento, Vallo della Lucania, Palinuro, Paestum, Velia. In 2021, with an official paper of the city hall, also Trentinara - "The Village of Love" joined.^{[15][16][17][18]} On 2 August 2022 also Vatolla joined as "The Village of Otium".^[19] On 6 August 2022 also Piano Vetrale joined as "The Murales Village".^[20][21] In the same month also San Mauro Cilento adhered as "Village of incunaboli e cinquecentine". In addition Massicelle adhered as "Village of Toys", while Casal Velino came together as "Landfall Village". In the end a last village adhered: Agropoli - "The Village of the Castle". The final number of villages involved is twenty five.^[22]

Within the "Cultural Triangle of ancient Cilento" the new movement of "La Scuola Empatica" (Empathism)^[23][24][25] rose in 2020, which bases its formal theories^[26] on the New Manifesto of Arts to which many authors, visual artists, musicians, philosophers and intellectuals joined.^[27][28]

An incredible scandal happened with the change of the Mayor of Salento Cilento - "The Poetry Village" in 2024. In fact, in the first 30 days of his political mandate, without an official paper to justify it, the new Mayor Michele Santoro ordered, on the morning of Sunday the 7th of July, to breck down with pickaxes the tiles with unpublished poetry overwritten dedicated to the Cilento's territory written as gift by all the winners of the Cilento Poetry Prize as Milo de Angelis, Dacia Maraini, Valerio Magrelli, Giampiero Neri, Roberto Carifi and from the founder of the Prize and of the Poetry Village Menotti Lerro. The case became viral and the main televisions and newspapers condemned the uncivil episode occurred. After the medias hype, the Mayor Santoro tried to justify himself affirming that poetry could not stay on the same wall where there was also a plaque for war fallen. But the former Mayor Gabriele De Marco said that, in his opinion, the new Mayor Michele Santoro stopped to destroy the tiles in the rest of the village only because everyone had disagreed shouting nonsense and shame for the destruction of art.^{[29][30][31][32]} On the 23th of July in his second "Foglio Empatico" published on the daily newspaper "Il Quotidiano di Salerno" the founder Menotti Lerro affirmed he never will organize cultural events in both Omignano Cilento (The Aphorisms Village") and Salento Cilento ("The Poetry Village"), and in particular he never will organize the International Cilento Poetry Prize in Salento Cilento again till these two Mayors will be in charge".^[33] On the 31th of July Lerro published the "Empathic Sheet N°3" praising all the Mayors of the Cilento's territory helping to develop the Cultural Pyramid, epicenter of the Movement.^[34]

• The Empathic Movement, edited by Menotti Lerro, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023. ISBN 978-1-5275-3857-3
• Menotti Lerro, La scuola Empatica: movimento letterario-artistico-filosofico e culturale sorto in Italia nel 2020 (Ladolfi: 2020) ISBN 978-8866445678
• Menotti Lerro, Antonello Pelliccia, New Manifesto of Arts (Zona: 2020) ASIN B08F2M1785
• Empatismo / Scuola empatica, on Riscontri Magazine
• Francesco D'Episcopo, "Il Cilento nel mondo attraverso la voce di Menotti Lerro", in Riscontri Magazine, Anno XLIV. N. 3. Settembre-Dicembre 2023, pp. 125-128. ISBN 978-8-8313-4077-9
• Luigi Leuzzi, "L'importanza simbolica della 'Piramide Culturale del Cilento' ideata da Menotti Lerro", in Riscontri Magazine, Anno XLIV, Maggio - Agosto 2022, p. 79. ISBN 978-8-8313-4051-9
• Carmela Santi, "Salento borgo della poesia. Versi rimossi e polemiche". Il Mattino, 9 July 2024, p. 26.
• Ottavio Rossani, Davide Rondoni: "I picconatori del Cilento contro la poesia", Corriere della Sera
• "Il sindaco che rimuove poesie dalla facciata del Municipio" RaiNews
• Pasquale Scaldaferri: "Cilento, Sindaco piccona la cultura" La Voce del Meridione
• Menotti Lerro, Omignano "Paese degli Aforismi", ma il Sindaco tace!
• "La poesia picconata" interview to Menotti Lerro
• Menotti Lerro, "Le folli turbolenze di luglio che fortificano la Piramide Culturale del Cilento, e i punti del non ritorno".
• Pietro Mazzuca "Piccolo pianto antico a Salento" La Voce del Meridione
• Empathic Sheet N°3 by Menotti Lerro, praising all the Mayors helping to delevop the Cultural Pyramid

• The Three Schools of Salerno Province: Scuola Empatica, Scuola Eleatica, Scuola Medica Salernitana
• European Heritage Days
• Giornate Europee del Patrimonio - Empatismo