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AMALFI EXCURSION
Amalfi is a town near Salerno facing
the sea with its streets, its characteristic houses clinging on the
rock and with its antique sighting towers.
It is situated along the coast just south of Naples, known as the
Amalfi Coast, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in
the world.
Once it was a powerful Maritime Republic and had prolific
trading connections overseas, particularly with the middle-east. The
most important monument, the Cathedral, is an attestation to
her glorious past, in style "Romanesque-Amalfitan", a style
completely amalfitan that adds to the Romanesque rigour elements of
Moorish and Byzantine art.
Inside, it's a mixture of Saracen and Romanesque styles,
though now heavily restored, with a major relic in the body of St.
Andrew buried in its crypt. Then, a very picturesque landscape with
the most charming panoramic views and the mildest of climates. Its
delightful little beaches and the "Cave of the Emerald" rich
with stalagmites and stalactites has made it a unique place.
The origin of the town is not a
certain one. The name comes from Latina (from Melfi, a Lucan sea
village abandoned by Roman people in IV century a.C. or maybe from
Roman gens Amarfia, that lived in I century a.C.). A legend tells
that the name comes from Amalfi, a nymph loved by Hercules. She was
buried there as a desire of the gods. Amalfi was surely inhabited by
Romans, escaped on Lattari mounts to hide from Germanic and
Longobard invasions. It was a castrum in defence of Byzantine ducat
of Naples. The town had a privileged relation to Byzantium thanks to
its ability in the commerce.
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