Amalfi – Ravello

Amalfi

Amalfi is the town for which the Amalfi Coast was named. At one time Amalfi was a major shipping port and controlled the entire coast.  Flavio Gioia, traditionally considered the first to introduce the mariner’s compass to Europe, is said to have been a native of Amalfi. There is a small museum dedicated to navigation. A plague and tsunami in 1343 decimated the city and it was never able to recover.

Ravello

Located above Amalfi is the town of Ravello, A favorite for creative types and the rich, it was a favorite of Richard Wagner, D.H. Lawrence and the Kennedys. You take a bus from Amalfi along a bit of the coast road and then up the mountain to Ravello. You will pass groves of the amazingly lemons that grow in the hillsides and are used in limoncello.