Naples - Amalfi and Atrani Travel Guides | Naples | Sub Regions | Naples - Amalfi and Atrani

There is little in its popularity as a contemporary holiday destination and its picturesque setting to suggest that Amalfi was ever much more than a pleasant fishing town with some nice old churches and buildings. In fact, between the 9th and 12th centuries, it was an independent republic with a population of up to 80,000, and one of the foremost maritime powers of the Mediterranean, on a par with Genoa, Pisa and Venice.

There are some good walks to be had inland up the verdant Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills), or up steep steps under cliffs and through lemon groves to Pontone. Alternatively you can just laze on the beach: Amalfi has eight ‘private beach establishments’ which you pay for the privilege of using. The free public section in the middle of town (near the Flavio Gioia monument) is perfectly acceptable, however. From the area around Lido Azzurro at the western end of Amalfi there are several places where you can rent boats or book trips to the Grotta Smeralda (Emerald Grotto). Atrani is Amalfi's smaller and quieter Siamese sibling, a jumble of narrow whitewashed alleys squashed onto the coast to the east and a good, easy escape from the crowds.

Sights

Duomo and Museum

Museum: 1000-1700 winter, 0900-2100 summer. €2.50. During these times access to cathedral through museum only. Cathedral also open from 0730.

Amalfi’s 13th-century Duomo is at the centre of the town up an imposing set of steps. The brass doors, imported from Constantinople, were cast around the middle of the 11th century and may be Italy’s oldest. The interior has been recently restored to its pre-Baroque state, though it is disappointingly lacking in atmosphere after its striking black and white exterior and handsome campanile. More impressive is the Chiostro del Paradiso, a Moorish jungle of columns and arches around a small garden. The museum contains a 13th-century statue of Saint Elias looking distinctly wizard-like, a grand 17th-century silver crosier and a bejewelled Angevin mitre embedded with 19,000 pearls. There are also temporary art exhibitions held here. Under the cathedral, the Crypt of St Andrew contains the remains of the apostle, looted from Constantinople during the Crusades in 1206.

Museo della Carta

via delle Cartiere 23, T 089-8304561, http://www.museodellacarta.it  Mar-Oct Mon-Sun 1000-1800; Nov-Feb Mon-Sun 1000-1300, €3.40.

With its early trade connections with the Orient, in the 12th century Amalfi was one of the first places in Europe to bring back the technology of paper-making, and its handmade paper was much sought after for centuries. Handmade paper is still made in the town, using the impressive 18th-century water-powered production methods you can see on display here, in a mill dating from the 13th or 14th century.

With the ticket into the museum you get a guided tour (in English and Italian) of the machinery and tools that were used. The quality of the tour depends very much on the guide, but they can be fascinating.

Museo Civico

piazza del Municipio 6. Mon-Fri 0800-1400, Tue and Thu 1600-1900. Closed Sat and Sun. Free.

The so-called Museo Civico is really nothing more than the town hall, but it does contain an original copy of the Tavole Amalfitane, a set of maritime laws in force from medieval times until the 16th century. Also here are some other manuscripts, paintings and the costumes of the Historical Court of Amalfi which are worn every year by the participants in the Palio delle Quattro Repubbliche Marinare, a ceremonial boat race between Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice.

Atrani

About a 20-minute walk from eastern end of Amalfi (see below).

More residential than its better-known neighbour, Atrani is a fascinating maze of stepped paths, dark passageways and houses piled higgledy-piggledy on top of each other. It has a pretty, café-filled central piazza and can be a merciful escape from Amalfi’s crowds.

From the eastern end of Amalfi, steps (the Salita Roberto Guiscardo) head up from the main road and become a winding path parallel with the road below. This leads through covered passageways, between peeling whitewashed houses and along a sunny stretch with good views all the way to piazza Umberto I in Atrani, about 20 minutes walk away.

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