Sorrento
and Amalfi Coast
Amalfi
coast
The 40 Km long Amalfitana main road, inaugurated in 1853
by Ferdinand II of Bourbon, is the only one that runs along
the coast. The inhospitable cliffs and craggy rocks have
allowed the Amalfi Coast to maintain most of the impressive
yet charming beauty that began to attract hoards of visitors
from throughout the world at the beginning of the nineteenth
century for its mild climate, suggestive sense of isolation,
fascinating landscape and ancient memories.
After Positano there are three little islands, called Li
Galli, and as the legend suggests....in the beginning there
were the Mermaids, who tried to cast a spell over the insensitive
Ulysses with their song, only to be turned to stone for
their humiliating disappointment, the three crags of the
Sirenusae.
Ravello is the most precious gem of the amalfitana peninsula.
Some famous artists who have visited Ravello are, Boccaccio,
and Wagner, as well as many others.
Ravello was founded by the Roman aristocracy, and soon it
became a very wealthy and powerful town between the X, and
the XIII century. Ravello, like Amalfi, owed its prosperity
to extensive commerce throughout the Mediterranean, and
to its strong textile industry (wool and cotton). The fall
of Ravello's wealth and influence came with Ruggero II,
and the Normanni domination. This was furthered even more
with the Pisani invasion in 1337, which deprived the entire
Amalfi Coast of its independence, and political power.
Sorrento
Sorrento had always been a proud and aristocratic town,
often in conflict with the nearby villages. It participated
in the Masaniello revolution too, and it had been besieged
14 months long. In 1799 it became part of the Neapolitan
Republic and so it became again theatre of fights between
Republicans and Bourbonists. Anyway, since the 18th century
on, it got the characteristics of a refined holiday resort.
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