fiogf49gjkf0d SANT*AGATA SUI DUE GOLFI
IT IS SITUATED ABOUT 6 KM FROM SORRENTO.
IT*S ONE OF THE *PEARLS* IN THE GULFS OF NAPLES
AND SALERNO FACING CAPRI.
PERCHED ON A HILL OFFERING A SERIES OF VIEWS OVER
THE SEA AND THE TWO BAYS.
ETRUSCANS, GREEKS AND ROMANS WERE ENCHANTEDBY THE
BEAUTIES OF THE SIREN LAND AND LIVED IN THE
WOODED HILLS FOR CENTURIES.
DURING THE GRAND TOUR THIS PLACE WAS ONE OF THE
MOST FAVORITE STOPS.
TODAY IT*S A VERY POPULAR SUMMER RESORT AND AN
EXCELLENT CENTER FOR MANY EXCURSIONS.
THE OASI OLIMPIA RELAIS IS LOCATED ABOUT 6 KM
FROM SORRENTO.
ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE GULF OF NAPLES, IN A
SPLENDID PANORAMIC POSITION, STANDS SORRENTO,
WHOSE NAME DERIVES, ACCORDING TO TRADITION, FROM
THE SIRENS, THE MYTHICAL CREATURES WHO ENTHRALLED
SAILORS WITH THEIR SONG.
BOASTING WELL EQUIPPED BATHING PLANTS, THOSE OF
MARINA GRANDE AND MARINA PICCOLA, MODERN HOTEL
ACCOMMODATIONS AND EFFICIENT CONFERENCE CENTERS.
SORRENTO IS STILL TODAY ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS
AND VISITED HOLIDAY CENTERS IN THE REGION AND IN
THE WHOLE OF ITALY.
IT IS ALSO NOTED FOR ITS CITRIC FRUIT PRODUCTION,
ESPECIALLY LEMONS, AS WELL AS WALNUTS AND
EXQUISITE WINES.
FINALLY, LACE AND WOODCARVING CRAFTS, WITH THEIR
ANCIENT ORIGINS, ARE FLOURISHING.
THE OASI OLIMPIA RELAIS IS LOCATED ABOUT 27 KM
FROM AMALFI.
ON ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STRETCHES OF THE
SALERNO COASTLINE, IN A SPLENDID PANORAMIC
POSITION, STANDS AMALFI, ONE OF THE MOST
FASCINATING TOWNS IN THE CAMPANIA REGION AND OF
ITALY AS A WHOLE.
ACCORDING TO TRADITION, THE TOWN WAS FOUNDED IN
THE FOURTH CENTURY AD BY SOME ROMANS HEADING FOR
CONSTANTINOPLE WHO SHIPWRECKED, STOPPED NEAR
PALINURO AND BUILT MELPHE THERE, LATER MOVING TO
A SAFER PLACE ALONG THE SALERNO COAST, THUS
ORIGINATING AMALFI.
THE MOST ANCIENT OF THE MARINE REPUBLICS REACHED
ITS GREATEST SPLENDOR IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH
CENTURIES, WHEN IT TOOK ON A LEADING ROLE IN
TRADE WITH THE ORIENT.
IN FACT, THE MARITIME LAWS OF THE CITY, CONTAINED
IN THE FAMOUS TABULA AMALPHITANA, FOR CENTURIES
CONSTITUTED THE COMMERCIAL CODE FOR ALL THE
MEDITERRANEAN.
THE TOWN PRESERVES IMPORTANT EVIDENCE OF ITS
PRESTIGIOUS PAST THE CATHEDRAL, DEDICATED TO ST.
ANDREW, DOMINATING THE SQUARE OF THE SAME NAME
FROM ABOVE STEEP STEPS, THE PARADISE CLOISTER, A
DELIGHTFUL CONSTRUCTION IN ARABIAN-STYLE DATING
TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY AND THE RUINS OF THE
ARSENAL OF THE REPUBLIC, TWO NAVES COVERED WITH A
POINTED ARCHED TRANSEPT WHERE, IN THE CITY*S
PERIOD OF GREATEST SPLENDOR, THE FASTEST AND
LARGEST GALLEYS OF THE AGE WERE BUILT.
THE IMPOSING NATURE OF THESE BUILDINGS, THE
FASCINATION OF TYPICALLY MEDITERRANEAN
ARCHITECTURE, MADE UP OF MAZY LANES AND
CHARACTERISTIC WHITE HOUSES PILED ONE UPON THE
OTHER, THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE PLACE, THE MILD
CLIMATE, THE WELL EQUIPPED AND EFFICIENT
ACCOMMODATION STRUCTURES MAKE AMALFI ONE OF THE
MOST EXCLUSIVE AND FAMOUS RESORTS FOR NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL TOURISM.
THE OASI OLIMPIA RELAIS IS LOCATED ABOUT 31 KM
FROM RAVELLO.
IN AN ENCHANTING PANORAMIC POSITION, ON A SPUR
THAT DIVIDES THE VALLE DEL DRAGONE FROM THAT OF
REGINNA, STANDS RAVELLO, ONE OF THE MOST
INTERESTING TOURIST RESORTS IN THE PROVINCE OF
SALERNO AND THE WHOLE OF CAMPANIA.
TESTIMONY TO THE OPULENCE AND PROSPERITY OF THOSE
CENTURIES NOWADAYS LIES IN THE MANY MONUMENTS IN
ARAB-SICILIAN STYLE, INTRODUCED BY THE WEALTHY
FAMILIES THAT HAD TRADING LINKS WITH THE ORIENT
AND SICILY.
THE DUOMO IS VERY INTERESTING, DEDICATED TO ST.
PANTALEONE, SO IS THE RUFOLO PALACE, BUILT IN THE
SECOND HALF OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, BY THE
FAMILY OF THAT NAME AND ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST OF
THE TOWN, AND THE VILLA CIMBRONE, WITH ITS FAMOUS
VIEWPOINT FROM WHERE AN ENCHANTING PANORAMA CAN
BE ADMIRED.
FAVORED DESTINATION OF ARTISTS AND MEN OF LETTERS
THROUGHOUT THE AGES, CHARMED BY ITS SPLENDID
NATURAL BEAUTY AND ITS INTERESTING HISTORIC
ARTISTIC HERITAGE, RAVELLO TODAY IS ONE OF THE
MOST FAMOUS PLACES ON THE AMALFI COASTLINE.
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