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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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Ravello is an island, outside time and without time... enchanted, sleepy, dreams of being discovered... The entrance to the town is by the church of S.Maria a Gradillo, Romanesque of the XII century, it was the town's seat of Nobility and by ancient privilege the place where the ruler of Amalfi took possession of the entire Duchy. Now we take the left hand side along via delle Rimembranze ... Along the way a magnificent view is offered by Scala and her green country side, in a cavern in the rocks the Church of S.Angelo Dell'Ospedale (the ancient sanatorium) with a magnificent Pulpit of the two hundreds ... We arrive at Piazza Fontana named after the interesting Moorish Fountain probably of the XVIII century , it is decorated with marble of the XIII century , the bull and the lion of the Evangelists Mathew and Luke, (reproductions of the stolen originals, once held in the cathedral). A hotel faces onto the open-space adapted from an ex-convent of the St. Agostino order of the two hundreds; nearby the ruins of the church of S Agostino, now a Memorial to the Fallen , and the magnificent Belvedere suspended over the gulf... further ahead the Chapel of S.Maria del Lacco, the ruins of the Ancient Fortifications, and the antique City Gate, also named del Lacco...
The Casa di Tolla with a pretty courtyard and acute arches (XI century) actual seat of the Town-hall and also some ancestral mansions, then on to via dell'Episcopio which we follow to piazza Vescovado. Taking on the left hand side, the steep via Annunziata we arrive at the magnificent Church dell'Annunziata, seat of the European Universities Centre of Cultural Heritage and from there we take the Viale della repubblica, to the Sanctuary of SS.Cosma e Damiano , and the Hamlet of Torello with the magnificent Church of S.Pietro alla Costa... The right hand side leads to the splendid piazza Vescovado with tall, whispering Pines and placed in the middle: the imposing Cathedral of S. Pantaleone with a beautiful bell-tower of the two hundreds...
The Cathedral was erected in 1087 A.D., by the Noble family Rufolo and
was the seat of the Episcopate until the XIX century. Authentic jewel
case of works of art, the cathedral was the symbol of the On the right hand side of the Cathedral a square tower that marks the entrance to Villa Rufolo, the monument is another symbol of Ravello, an example of the grandeur of the Sicilian- Norman style ( thanks to the profitable trading relations with Sicily and the Arab world),that developed in the town in the XII-XIII centuries...
Built in XIII century by the Rufolo family, probably the richest in
Ravello, the sumptuous residence then passed into the hands of the
Confalone and the D'Afflitto and finally the Scottish Frances Neville
Reid who restored it to part of its antique splendour:: the magnificent
court-yard with a beautiful colonnade of arches entwined with foliage
designs , the delicate marquetry of the walls and above all the gardens
. In this spell-binding atmosphere in the month of July the now traditional Wagner Festival is held. Recently the Antiquarium has been equipped to hold architectural fragments and statues of the Roman and Medieval Eras, a large part of which comes from the Cathedral... We leave Villa Rufolo and on the right, taking via S.Francesco we come to the Church of S.Francesco founded by the Saint in person in 1222 ...
Straight ahead along via S.Chiara to the monastery of the same name and the
Church of S.Chiara with a splendid seventeenth century majolica pavement.
LIST
OF MONUMENTS AND SITES OF SCENIC AND CULTURAL INTEREST
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opulence and
strength of Ravello always in competition with Amalfi: the most eloquent
example the Bronze Doors, commissioned to be similar to those of Amalfi
but even more
