Apr

White Cathedral

I Love Touring Italy - Amalfi Coast and Sorrento

If you are planning a European tour, you should consider the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento in the Gulf of Salerno. These sights so popular with jet setters and many others are part of the Campania region in southwestern Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It the area is by no means undiscovered. Do not miss our other articles on Campania destinations in this series describing the capital of Campania Naples, the historic ruins east of Naples, the area west of Naples, and finally, the Isle of Capri.

Let's start at the coastal city of Salerno and go west along the coast of Salerno, Amalfi, Ravello, then that is just north and continue along the coast to Positano and Sorrento finally through the Bay Naples from Naples.

Salerno, population about 150 thousand, was settled well before Roman times. Your Schola Medica Salernitana (Faculty of Medicine in Salerno) is said to be the oldest university in Europe. In the eleventh century was considered the center of medical knowledge in western Europe but by the century XIII who was on his way down. Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat closed the school. The University of Salerno, was published in 1968. It includes a medical school and Surgery. The city was invaded by the Allies during World War II and briefly hosted an Italian government that declared war on Germany.

The Duomo (Cathedral) was built in the late eleventh century and restored several times. Do not miss the bell tower, pulpits and carved marble sarcophagi. In fact, make sure to see the entire building with Byzantine and Arabic influences. The Cathedral Museum includes silver statues and historic medical school documents. Other churches are San Benito Salerno, originally part of a seventh-ninth century monastery destroyed by the Saracens and the baroque Church of San Jorge.

If you like to visit the palaces of XVII century Palazzo D'Avossa (D'Avossa Palace), the recently restored Palace Genovese, Giannattasio Palace and the Palace Tuft built on the site of a former cemetery. What about castles? The Castello di Arechi (Arechi Castillo) at the helm of the city is built on a former Roman-Byzantine construction and now used for conferences and exhibitions. Terracena XI century castle was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in the early thirteenth century and is still very little.

Amalfi, the population of about fifty thousand, was once a great mall with schools of mathematics and law. The maritime code was widely used Amalfi in the Mediterranean area for centuries. It is said that a native of Amalfi, first, the compass to Europe.

The Duomo di Sant'Andrea or Cattedrale (Cathedral San Andrés), considered the most impressive cathedral in southern Italy, was originally built during the ninth century and was rebuilt and expanded since then. Sure to see the beautiful Chiostro del Paradiso (Paradise Cloister) local cemetery bigwigs. The chapels dating from the XIII and XIV and are adorned with magnificent frescoes. Stop by the Museum of the Basilica to view the other historical treasures. The Cripta di Sant'Andrea (Crypt of St. Andrew), built in the thirteenth century, contains many of the relics of St. Andrew, the younger brother of San Pedro.

A few miles northeast of Amalfi is the town of Ravello, population about two 1500. Ravello is home to a major annual festival of Italian music in honor of a famous visitor, the German composer Richard Wagner Opera, housed in the Villa Rufolo, described below.

The large Arabic influence Villa Rufolo has a 90-foot (30 meter) observation tower and gardens, a favorite of German composer Richard Wagner opera. This village was mentioned by the famous Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio in The Decameron.

In nearby Villa Cimbrone looks old, but in reality was built in 1905. It is now a luxury hotel. Whether or not you stay at the hotel really should take a stroll through the rose gardens and see the dell'Infinita Belvedere (Belvedere Infinity) overlooking the Gulf of Salerno.

Positano, a town less than four thousand, which has gone from being a major port in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a fishing village some fifty or sixty years ago to the Amalfi Coast's number one tourist attraction. Beautiful Positano was featured in the movie Only You (1994) and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), but definitely not in Tuscany.

Murat Joachim Murat resided in the Palazzo during part of his reign as king of Naples and Sicily. As well can imagine, the palace was just a little country getaway from the office shaking. The gardens are beautiful and the Palace is near the beach. You can also stay there, is now a hotel. The thirteenth century Romanesque Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Church of Santa Maria Assunta) is most famous for its Byzantine wood painting Virgin and Child known as the Black Virgin. According to legend this painting was stolen by Saracen pirates who fled right into a violent storm. A voice cried: "Posa, posa" (let go, let it). They did so and fled to the calm. The painting was recovered and that is how the town got its name.

Before leaving to visit his Positano's main beach, the Grande Spaggia, and walk on the promenade, Via Positanesi d'America, the names of thousands of villagers who migrated United States, especially to New York to seek a better life. I'll let you decide where best to live today - Positano or New York. Walking around you will see many places of interest such as traf Tower, a historic defense tower transformed into a residence.

Sorrento, the population of about sixteen thousand, is 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Naples, across the bay of Naples. It has been a tourist town for perhaps two thousand years. Notable visitors British authors were Lord Byron and Keats, the German author Goethe, the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, and Italian opera singer Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti.

Sorrento has excellent museums. Correale di Terranova Museum proudly displays his collection of sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century paintings, furniture and decorative objects. Its route is beautiful as the view. The Museo della Bottega Tarsialignea (inlaid woodwork Museum) is dedicated to the tradition of inlaid wood as active in the region of Sorrento. Includes a beautiful collection of these parts surrounded by appropriately selected paintings, prints and photographs. Il Campano Mineralogical Museum (Museum Mineralogy) is relatively new. Its international collection includes minerals from Mount Vesuvius and Monte Somma. There is also a collection of dinosaurs including infants dinosaur and dinosaur eggs and a Permian reptile show that predate the dinosaurs by millions of years almost innumerable.

There is much more to see in Sorrento including its historic city center, with the remainder of the protective walls of the Middle Ages, the fourteenth century Il Chiostro di San Francesco (San Francisco Cloister) with its neighboring monastery above in maybe seven years, and the eleventh century Basilica of San Antonio dedicated to the patron saint of Sorrento. Here you can see his crypt and two whale bones. Legend has it that belonged to a whale that swallowed a child who was rescued by San Antonio in his most famous miracle.

What about food? As mentioned in other articles of this series, there is a lot to eat in Campania. Lemons are a local specialty, especially when the shells turn into a sweet liqueur known as limoncello. Anchovies are another local specialty. I do not recommend them together.

Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clam sauce). Then try Spigola (Under the Sea). For dessert indulge yourself with all'Arancio Crostata (Orange Cake). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.

It concludes with a quick look at Campania wine. Campania ranks ninth among the 20 Italian regions for both area dedicated to grape wine and total wine production year. The region produces about 64% red, and about 36% of white wine, as there is little ros? Campania produces 17 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denomination of Controlled Origin, which can be translated designation of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G Garantita DOCG means, but in reality there is no guarantee that these wines are truly superior. Only 2.8% of Campania wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. There are three DOCG wines: the red Taurasi, the white Greco di Tufo, and the white Fiano di Avellino. I tried the Fiano and found the main focus of the line.

There are two DOC wines produced in this area: Costa d'Amalfi and Sorrento Peninsula. Both are made in a variety styles with a variety of local grapes. Try them. But surely you can buy wines from Campania.

About the Author

In his younger days Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books. Now he prefers drinking fine Italian, German, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and the right people. He knows what dieting is, and is glad that for the time being he can eat and drink what he wants, in moderation. He loves teaching various and sundry computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his new wine, diet, health, and nutrition website www.wineinyourdiet.com and his Italian wine website www.theitalianwineconnection.com.