Amalfi
- At August 28, 2015
- By Zia Lucy
- In Paths
- 0
(photo: courtesy of Andrea Milano)
Despite its beauty and lemons, the town of Amalfi has an incredible history which everyone can dicover just by moving a little far from the crowded centre.
It is said that the first who moved to Amalfi were roman patrician during the I BC. They founded along the Coast amazing Luxury Villas for their holidays but, according to a legend called the Chronicon Amalfitanum, some roman families escaped from Palinuro due to Vandal raids and they founded the villages of Amalfi and Atrani.
From 839 to the XII Century Amalfi was a powerful Maritime Republic: all the Coast from Cetara to Positano, the Monti Lattari and the Islands of Capri and Li Galli were under the control of the republic and the borders were fortified by castles and watch towers which are still visible nowadays.
People from Amalfi were great traders: they founded houses, monasteries, kiosks and shops all over the south of Italy, the Byzantine Empire and the northen side of Africa. They used to sell wood and buy spices, gold and silk that they later sold to the North Italian markets. The trade with the Arabs influenced amalfitans’ architecture, trading and lifestyle.
Nowadays is still possible to walk around Amalfi and imagine its glourious past. As a local guide and an insider, I highly recommend to visit the Paper Museum and the Mills Valley: an itinerary that goes to the upper side of Amalfi where you will discover a hidden River surrounded by an incredible nature, where it is possible to admire huge lemon yards and ruins of medieval paper mills. An enchanted place enclosed into the past, far from the crowds and the tourist areas where it is still possible to enjoy the real local life and nature.
Recent Comments