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A testament to a glorious past, the meeting of races and culture, along the entire coast: old castle walls, villas, churches and sanctuaries...we appeal not to the expert but to the curious who delight in cultural discoveries, who want to know more about the places they visit... |
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Dream is the right word, in this angle of the world God seems to have given more beauty than in other places... "the day of Universal Judgement for the people of Amalfi who go to Paradise will be a day like any other..." RENATO FUCINI Paradise we find in the hundreds of churches, in the sumptuous mansions with twin arched windows entwined with bougainvillaea , in the squares with window sells adorned with geraniums and piennolo tomatoes... The entrance to the town is guarded by the majestic Tower of St Francis, Spanish but called by the local population "Saracen"; the view of the town makes a deep impression; the "quarter Vagliendola" the many small boats anchored, the verdant vigour of the gardens of the Cappuccini... A little further away the hamlets, little more than clusters of houses, grouped around Moorish bell-towers hanging in the green of vineyards and terraces of lemons that descend to the sea.... In the distance the Capo di Conca...
Now we find ourselves in Viale delle Regioni, The Panel of Ceramics by Diodoro Cossa celebrates the history of Amalfi. We now enter Piazza Municipio (Town Hall Square ), the ancient Quarter Campolillo , Where there were once aristocratic houses and the Ducal Palace: there a few Remains of the Ducal Palace and a medieval Well.
The grand Mansion colour ocra is the town hall, which also holds the
Civic Museum, where the former glories are held: eg. The "Tarì", Ancient Nautical Instruments, including the Compass; the very rare Codes amongst which the "
Tabulae Amalphitanae", ( the Amalfi Tables), and a copy of "Pandette del Corpus Juris Civilis" by Giustiniano; the antique
Confalone (banner) and the Costumes of the Republic, worn on the occasion of the Historical Regatta of the Four Maritime Republics, a rowing race between Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice who host the event alternately the first week in June. We now take the narrow passage on the northern side of the square, the Supportico St. Andrea and at the end a large dark door that is the secondary entrance to the
Cathedral. Ahead of us the Crypt of St. Andrew built in 1206 A.D. to hold the sacred remains of the Apostle, brought to Amalfi from Constantinople, and placed in a silver urn under the central altar a work of Domenico Fontana; On this tomb at various times of the year an ampoule fills with
"La Manna", a mysterious liquid with miraculous qualities , it appeared The steps at the back lead to the Basilica of the SS.Crucifix, built in the IX century it holds between the large columns : a precious fresco of the high medieval period ( a Madonna with child, Scene of the Miracles and Portraits of Saints , amongst whom the Beato fra Gerardo Sasso Amalfitan and founder of the Order of Malta). Closed in solid cases the Cathedral Treasure, the precious Angevin Mitre made of gems, gold and enamel and a "pave" of 19.000 pearls, the Chalice in silver gilt with enamel, pearls and gems from the middle of the XIV century: We pass from the Basilica to the Cloister of Paradise (1298) the ancient cemetery of the important citizens: The style is perfectly Amalfitan, the entwined arches are held by 120 marble columns and the play of light through the arches makes the shadows into arabesques... Next the Cathedral ...
Placing oneself at the back of the central nave for a complete view, one sees in the apsis: a magnificent Wooden Crucifix of XIII century; two twisted columns and two Pulpits remains of an antique ambo; over the altar a painting of the Martyrdom of St. Andrew a work of Andrea Dell'Asta
On Good Friday with only the light of torches the funeral procession with the Dead Christ and Our Mother of Sorrows passes in complete silence, until slowly the choir start a lament describing the desperation of the Madonna, (music and words by the Amalfitan musician Antonio Tirobassi (1882-1947)...
Straight ahead on the main road, until the
Ruga Nova the ancient arcade which begin with the remains of an Arab
Bath, and ends in the Square of the Spirito Santo .
Apart from the interesting Remains of the papermills (industrial archaeology) there were forges that in the XIV century worked the mineral that the ships of Amalfi carried from Elba, Puglia and
Calabria. The activity continued until the beginning of the last century when too far from the markets, the Ferriera closed and then started the slow abandon of the valley. The abandonment was not a completely bad thing as nature returned to the uncontaminated state much loved by the Grand Romantic travellers: Shinkel, Hare , Goethe and Richter to name only a few of those ( who painted and wrote about this famous valley, leaving traces of its beauty all over the world).
The habitat of rare species of animals,
Pilgrim Falcon, Otter and the curious salamander with
glasses... Delicate cyclamen ,wild orchids, Neophyte plants: Woodwaria Radicans or Felce Bulbifera
Gigante, a fern of the tertiary period , under the tutelage of the Convention of
Berne...
Back on the main road opposite the fountain
"Capa e Ciuccio" on the left, Castriota Mansion, late Gothic in style the entrance contains two valuable frescoes portraying the Ducal epoch. We come out into the interesting square of the Doges, on the north the passage to the Cathedral Square with two large acute arches of the antique Arsenal of the Republic. The only example of a naval shipyard in the south, on record from the XI century, the actual twelve arches represent the remaining part of the original twenty-two that opened onto the sea .On the outside wall a magnificent Ceramic Panel by Rossi showing the Trade of Amalfi... On the southern side of the square, steep steps lead to Vagliendola neighbourhood, this was the western door of the city, the Vallenula, (there were another four) the Church of St. Biagio an ancient property of the Abbey of Montecassino. The plan is simple except for the little Byzantine bell-tower, it has valuable fifteenth century paintings and a splendid Ceramic Pavement of the '700 A.D. Straight along the picturesque lane under the houses until the celebrated Hotel of The Capuchins..."Who has not seen Amalfi has not seen the world, but who has not visited the terrace of the Convent of the Capuchins, has not seen Amalfi..." ( O. Sitwell) The hotel is in the buildings of an ancient convent of 1212A.D., founded by Pietro Capuano that replaced the Church of St. Peter a Toczolo, of the X century. Run by the Cistercians of Fossanova and later abandoned, the Covent in 1583, was given to the Capuchins and suppressed by the abolition laws in 1815. A landslide destroyed part of the building but quite large part is conserved: the beautiful Cloister of the XIII century (the third Cloister in Amalfi) and a magnificent colonnade with flowers....The panorama is enchanting from here, Amalfi offers an unforgettable vision: the white houses among the lemons and olives, sloping to the beach as if to dive into the magnificent emerald sea...
On the road again passing the gallery "del
Cieco" ,take the inside via Maestra dei Villaggi, the only road that unites the outlying houses to the centre; the lazy ones amongst us should continue on the SS163,and then take via Papa Leone X , the road to Pogerola ;we continue on foot. Straight on to Lone, another village grouped around the Church of the Natività di Maria Vergine, of the last century, in the centre of an ample terrace like a dream amongst the green of the lemon groves : from here Amalfi and the entire gulf on one side, the village of Vettica on the other, and below the beach of S. Croce with the Natural Arch, and Conca dei Marini... We now take the steep steps to via Papa Leone X, going upwards for five-hundred metres, to the Punta di Pastena, at the Church of the Assunta we come out amongst the lemons of via Montetillo... follow via Spinale to the delightful village of Pogerola... Ancient Castrum Pigellule, endowed with an imposing boundary wall with towers and entrance doors, it protected the western side of Amalfi, with a number of houses inside, little farms Churches and monasteries, from those glorious times remain: at the extreme south the Tower of Pogerola with pieces of the wall in the woods in the vicinity; the Parish Church of S. Marina of 1140A.D.; the Ruins of the monastery of SS.Benedetto and Scolastica at Tavernate in the heart of a chestnut wood in the hamlet... In the centre of the square the beautiful Church of the Madonna delle Grazie of the XVI century,that holds an altar piece of the XVII century... On the left hand side of the Church, Via Riulo that leads to the quarter of the same name, and at the heart of the Pogerola mountain Tavernata, where in ancient times the via Stabiana passed, the artery that joined the territories of Amalfi to the Peninsula of Sorrento.
Resisting the call of the woods and the verdant vigour of the mountains, and the fresh air of Pogerola to turn the right towards the wide steps that twist in curves through the wooded hills of Mount Tabor, until we arrive at Amalfi and the magnificent Valley dei
Mulini....
LIST
OF MONUMENTS AND SITES OF SCENIC AND CULTURAL INTEREST
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On the inside of the road , a marble plaque to the memory of famous guests of the hotel, originally the convent of St. Francis (1222); inside a precious
cloister: A little further on a ramp of steps lead to the Church of St.
Anthony, admire the frescoes of XIII century in the crypt, on the 13th of June there is a naval procession in sign of devotion to the Saint. The ex-monastery of the Benedictines, built in the X century, but since the XIX century a monumental cemetery and above this the remains of the
Castle of Scalelle with the high Tower of the Ziro... This is in territory of Scala so we will talk about it elsewhere....
