Provided the Italian matriarch has returned to coastal town in Salerno (6)
I believe the answer is:
amalfi
'coastal town in salerno' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'provided the italian matriarch has returned' is the wordplay.
'provided' becomes 'if' (eg 'provided it's sunny' means 'if it's sunny').
'the italian matriarch' becomes 'lama' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'has returned' says the letters should be written backwards.
'if'+'lama'='iflama'
'iflama' in reverse letter order is 'AMALFI'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amalfi that I've seen before include "Italian holiday coast" , "Italian resort on the Gulf of Sorrento" , "Italian town on Gulf of Salerno" , "Popular tourist town on Gulf of Salerno south of Naples" , "Italian location" .)