The Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Province of Salerno in Southern Italy. The Amalfi Coast is a popular tourist destination for the region and Italy as a whole, attracting thousands of tourists annually.

The Amalfi Coast remained isolated geographically until the 19th century when Ferdinand II, the Bourbon King of Naples, commissioned the construction of a road connecting the villages dotting the coastline. The Amalfi Coast road reached Amalfi by the middle of the century, and this provided the access that today allows countless tourists each year to experience the beauty of the Amalfi Coast.

 

The Amalfi Coast lies in a Mediterranean climate, featuring warm summers and mild winters. It is located on the relatively steep southern shore of the Sorrentine Peninsula, leaving little room for rural and agricultural territories. The only land route to the Amalfi Coast is the 40 kilometres long Strada Statale 163 which runs along the coastline from the town of Vietri sul Mare in the east to Positano in the west.

The Amalfi Coast is known for its production of limoncello liqueur as the area is a known cultivator of lemons, known as sfusato amalfitano in Italian, which are grown in terraced gardens along the entire coast between February and October. Amalfi is also a known maker of a hand-made thick paper which is called bambagina. Other renowned local products are a particular kind of anchovies (local Italian: alici) from Cetara, and the colorful handmade ceramics from Vietri.

In 1997, the Amalfi Coast was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural landscape.

Posted in: Italy