The Amalfi Coast

Posted on October 1, 2012

The Amalfi Coast traces along the southern side of the Sorrento Peninsula. Here we find many historic communi, the most important of which is Amalfi, a maritime republic during the Middle Ages and a contemporary of Venice. Owing to the narrow roads precariously straddling rocky cliffs, our regular tour bus route ended in the town of Sorrento. We bid our fond farewells to our bus driver, Claudia, and took on the local tour vans.

The trek from Sorrento to Amalfi took an hour, taking us over the central mountain range before going back down on the southern coast. There, the drive to Amalfi traversed coastal towns of unique architecture. The densest buildings crowded the coastline while the rest of the town climbed up the slopes, the shape and direction of the buildings dictated by the whims of the natural landscape. With little land, residents made use of whatever limited space was available – including parking a car on the roof of the houses and terracing the slopes to plant Amalfi lemons, the main ingredient for the locally brewed limoncello. I thought about the photo of Amalfi I saw on Wikipedia much of the way, eager to see it with my own eyes and acquire a similar photograph myself.

The town of Positano

A view of Amalfi from one of the piers, taken from the same location as the Wikipedia photo that excited me

The Amalfi Cathedral (Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea)

Inside the Amalfi Cathedral

Detail of the ceiling of the Amalfi Cathedral

The nave of the Amalfi Cathedral

A beach at Amalfi