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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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A confusion of white houses as in Greece (the Byzantine tradition joins the South to the Greek Islands, not the Arab style as many believe.) The arches and domes, balconies covered with bougainvillaea , fall down the slopes of Monti Comune and s. Angelo a Tre Pizzi, challenging gravity, hanging on to the mountains above the pointed rocks, the stony beach and tiny boats anchored below. The entrance to the town: Torre Sponda, still holding the destiny of guardian, protecting the small beach of the port and the like named Grotto, here the ancient people of the Paleolitic and the Mesolitic periods left evidence of themselves, weapons and instruments in flint. The crossroads at the Sponda has a pretty fountain, from where we aim for the sea on Via Cristoforo Colombo. Romantic small hotels high above the sea, small bars that are shaded by bougainvillaea and all around light and the joy of life, it is marvellous, a legend: the LI GALLI rocks that watch impassable . Blue as the water that surrounds them, the rocks of the sirens or maybe the Siren herself who humiliated by Ulysses died of a broken heart... A woman turned into rock, Rudolph Nureyev loved the idea and wanted to turn the island into the temple of Ballet. In the first half of XX century Leonide Massime with the help of the divine Le Corbusier, restored the tower and built a magnificent villa, with an annexe for music. When the Sultry Scirocco wind blows, the asphyxiating "bofagna", it seems one can still hear the singing and the oars of the vessels that the wicked siren shipwrecked with her song...
On the main rock "del Gallo Lungo", a
Roman Villa and the Angevin guard Tower (Del Gallo)...
Built in the XII century but altered in the baroque era, it was famous for the exclusive mosaic pavement, of which unfortunately only small fragments in the apsis remain. Precious works of art are On the outside of the entrance to the bell-tower (erected in 1707) is the marble plaque "della Pistrice" monstrous and fascinating symbol of Positano . The plaque of Flavio Gioia inventor ( but more probably discoverer ) of the naval compass : Positano and Amalfi contend the birth of Flavio Gioia but he may only be a legend...Near the church, half interred the remains of a Maritime Villa of the first century A.D. ( the site is private property)... A few steps ahead between billowing materials that wave like banners on the sides of the alleys , we come to the famous "Marina Grande"(Large beach) . Very few places can hold comparison with Marina Grande where delicious small restaurants open out on to the strand, fighting for space between the nets and the drawn up boats, the fashion boutiques and the art galleries in the open air right next to the sea... On the Eastern side a long well furnished beach, with bathing establishments and at the end the beautiful grotto dell' Incanto .... On the opposite side the promenade of via Positanesi di America joins the magnificent beach of Fornillo. Green and rocky guarded by two majestic towers : the Transita , and that of Fornillo, better known as Castello Clavel, from the Swiss poet Gilbert Clavel in residence there at the beginning of the last century... Beyond this point the savage coast, the bare Sorrento Coast, and on high the " Sciaccone" , the magnificent belvedere where sky and sea join in a marvellous embrace... Passing along via del Saraceno (on the western side of the beach having returned from via Positanesi di America ) we now find the small square with a steep ramp of steps on the inside: it is the " Scalinatella longa ,longa" ,( the long steps) subject of the famous song... Celebrated yes , but certainly hard work , it leads to the steep Viale Pasitea. The road climbs along the coast winding amongst the houses and arches, hotels and villas ... Enthroned on the top, the" Chiesa Nuova" ,S. Maria delle Grazie of the XVIII century, maybe because of the bizarre oval shape or the ample dome, the impression is of a piece of Greece transplanted on to the coast : it has the most beautiful majolica pavement on the coast , by Chiajese...
To be seen : the picturesque
Quarter Liparlati (where by tradition the people of Positano who traded with Spain resided), grouped around the pretty church of the fifteenth hundreds of
S.Giacomo a Liperlati, and then on up the steep via Grado, to the bright hamlet of Monte
Pertuso, through the centuries the extreme refuge from pirate raids. Dominating all the
"Pertuso" , the famous Hole in the rock. The Madonna is said to have made it with one finger when she fought against Satan.In April the sun rays pass through , but the older people believe that moon beams also pass through , but only on certain
nights...
LIST
OF MONUMENTS AND SITES OF SCENIC AND CULTURAL INTEREST
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We are now in the Piazza Dei Mulini, with the little
Church of the Madonna del Rosario,
contained here ,not to be missed the fifteenth century " Circoncisione " by Santafede ; the reliquary bust of the patron S.Vito , and above all the "Madonna Nera col Bambino in grembo"( The Black Madonna and Child) over the high altar. The sacred Icon arrived from the
