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Amalfi |
Amalfi environments |
Minori | Cetara |
Erchie | Positano |
Vietri sul Mare | History |
weekend in Amalfi
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Amalfi Coast - Minori
Suspended
between sea, sky and land, the section of coast that goes along Sant'Agata on
the Two Golfs, Positano, Amalfi, Atrani, Ravello, Minori, Maiori and Vietri
reveals, behind every curve.
Almost completely isolated until the 800's - when it
was only reachable via steep mule tracks - the 'divine coast' was discovered
only at the beginning of the 900's, and revealed artistic and architectonic
masterpieces of great value which were practically unknown.
As in Positano, the
houses are painted with pastel colors and the streets are webs of roads and
staircases amongst terraces and gardens engraved in the rock; or Amalfi, with
it's marine past and Duomo with it's scenic front; or Ravello, slightly out of
the way on the mountain, and therefore still able to offer the peace and mystery
which Wagner loved - when a guest at Villa Rufolo, where he composed the
Parsifal.
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How to get there: Vietri sul Mare (SA)
-eastern "door" of the Coastal crossroad between the main road n. 163 and the
motorway A3 Napoli/Salerno/Reggio Calabria - 5 km from Salerno, 20km from Amalfi,
37km from Positano, 50km from Napoli, 260km from Roma and 830km from Milano.
Amalfi travel guides
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Minori
Minori
derives its name from the torrent Reginna Minor (or Reginuolo) that crosses it.
It has been inhabited since Roman times, as some remains of the splendid Villa Romana testify. In the Middle Ages it had a more than adequate economic
development, in fact, Minori had been a Diocese since 987, due to Pope Giovanni
XV’s will and shared the history and fate of the near Amalfi, with which it was
often in competition.
It is a small but very nice town with a beautiful
promenade, enriched by a splendid IInd-century fountain (Lions' Fountain) and a
net of picturesque and lively lanes.
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Minori has
often been devastated by natural catastrophes and plagues: a tempest in 1597 was
particularly terrible, it destroyed the walls and the main square. The
Cathedral deserves a visit: it preserves S. Trofimena's relics , a saint
venerated all along the Coast. A 17th-century marble pulpit is very
remarkable. A wooden Baroque altar is interesting too, it is in the Church
of S. Lucia at Benedictine Convent.
However,
above all, Minori offers the possibilities of visiting the remains of a Roman
Villa of the Augustean Age (Ist century), built on a 2500-square-metre arc.
Excavations began in 1932 and were continued after the flood of 1954 buried it
under a blanket of mud. The building had two stories originally, but the
top floor has been lost.
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The ground
floor is still intact and is surrounded by three archways and a nymphaeum and is
decorated by frescoes and mosaics.
In the inside a swimming-pool of Roman times was discovered.
The Roman
Villa is of a great archeological interest: it is the only evidence of this
type on the Coast. lt permits historians to verify their theories about the
importance of the Villa (and in particular of Minori) during Roman dominion.
On the other
hand, even its country name is of Latin origin, like that
of the nearby Maiori.
Besides, perhaps it will be necessary to explain that the augmentative (maior that is
bigger) and the diminutive (minor, that is smaller) do not refer to the
importance or size of the respective towns, but to the torrents' flow crossing
their centers and having the same name, Reginna Maior the former and Reginna
Minor the latter.
These torrents are both terrible when they fall headlong
into the sea during the winter. As a matter of fact both towns have often
been devastated by terrible floods. Fortunately, today, this danger is
only a memory of the past thanks to the progress of civil engineering.
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(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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