VACATION DETAILS

From Naples visitors can explore the rugged Amalfi coast, Italy's most romantic stretch of coastline. Near Amalfi is the resort of Positano, where visitors enjoy strolling through streets and shopping in small boutiques. Take an excursion to legendary Pompeii, an ancient Roman city covered and preserved by the debris from the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The monuments of this city are considered to be among the finest of any ancient city in Europe, and visitors can spend a day here learning about life in a Roman town during the first century A.D. The Cathedral of San Gennaro, a fine medieval building, has one chapel containing the tomb of Charles of Anjou, while another houses the cathedral's gold and silver treasure. Among the Christian underground burial vaults discovered in an area of suburban heights, the Catacombs of San Gennaro can be visited. Capodimonte Park - a well-kept tropical park - has a royal palace built by Charles III in 1738 that now houses Naples' picture gallery, the National Museum of Capodimonte.

Excursions

Agrigento is a small town on the Southern coast of Sicily. The beach is wonderful and the small streets of the old town are quaint and charming. Just outside the city, you will find magnificent Greek temples located in the Valley of the Seven Temples.

Laid at the southern feet of the Mounts Lattari, which protect it from the Northwinds, Positano enjoys - thanks to its favourable position - all the advantages of a mild, dry climate. It is surrounded by green mounts, which form a sort of crown: Mount Comune, Mt. S. Maria del Castello, Mt. S. Angelo a Tre Pizzi (1444 metres high), Mt. Conocchia, Mt. Campo dei Galli and Mt. Paipo; towards south and east the gaze sweeps over the sea up to Punta Licosa and Capri. Three miles away from the coast a little arcipelago rises from the sea - "Li Galli" or "Sirenuse" - composed by three islands: "Gallo Lungo", "Rotonda", "Castelluccio", which was always supposed to be the abode of the bewitching Syrians.

The origins of Positano, like those of many other towns, are lost in the mists of time, so that it is difficult to distinguish between history and legend. As it often happen in the past, myths supplied for the lack of data: one of these myths tells us that Positano was founded by Poseidon - the Latin Neptune, the god of the sea - for the sake of the nymph Pasitea, whom he loved. It is certain that Phoenicians and Greeks, travelling westwards, landed in Positano, which at that time, was inhabited by Oschi and Piceni. The Romans built near the 'great' beach a rich patrician villa, which has now been buried by gardens and by the church devoted to Our Lady of the Assumption. With the fall of the Roman Empire Positano became a part of the Republic of Amalfi, the first maritime republic, and went through flourishing period, owing to the commerce with the other countries of the Mediterranean area.

Unfortunately this period was followed by gloomy ones, particularly during the Angevin and Aragonese domination, when our village was more than once exposed to the offence of the Saracen pirates, first, and, then of the Turkmen. A legend referring to that period says that the Saracen pirates, during an incursion, sacked the main Church and brought away, among other things, the Byzantine picture of Black Virgin, which was kept in the church and is now to be found in the apse over the high altar; they had just left the shore, when a voice was heard, that said: "Posa, posa". The pirates became aware of having committed a sacrilege, repented came back ashore and restored all the ill-gotten goods. To defend themselves from the very frequent raids of the pirates the inhabitants of Positano built three guard-towers, which can still be seen today in the quarters called "Fornillo", "La Trasita", "La Sponda" and some others in the inner part of the village. In the same period the mountain villages of Montepertuso and Nocelle enlarged to harbour the inhabitants of Positano and Laurito, who feared the pirates.

In 1700 there was a thriving period as it is shown by many villas in the late Baroque style, built on the East coast. The Unification of Italy forced many inhabitants of Positano, as it happened for so many other people of South Italy, to migrate to America, where fortune smiled on some of them. After the First World War - during which Positano also paid its great tribute of blood - this village, which was already the refuge of some Italian artists, like Vincenzo Caprile, harboured many Russian, German artists and men of letters, who chose it for its peace and quiet. Among others we can remember: Semenov, Zagoruiko, Essad Bey, Clavel, Escher, Massine, Kovaliska, Ghillausen, etc., who with their works maid this flat of land known all over the world.

The tourism booming took place after the Second World War; but despite of an intense expansion our village preserve its characteristic vertical structure and its bright architecture with suggestive, panoramique corners. Thanks to the innate sense of hospitality of its inhabitants Positano became one of the most famous tourist places all over the world. Our village is also internationally known for its clothing production: many little, but elegant boutiques, which are almost everywhere on both sides of streets and lanes, can satisfy all the requests of a cosmopolitan clientele. Its favourable position put it in the centre of a land rich of history and natural beauties. During the summer a series of patronal feasts - among which we can remember that on the 2nd of July in Montepertuso and that on the 15th of August in Positano - and cultural events - like the International Award for the Art of Dancing to the memory of the great dancer-choreographer Leonide Massine - gladden the evenings, making the stay in this charming place, also called the "Gem of the divine coast", more pleasant and suggestive.

The center of a triangle made up by Bari, Brindisi, and Taranto, the Valley of Itria has long been known for olive cultivation and the beehive-shaped houses dotting its landscape. These curious structures, called trulli, were built at least as early as the 13th century. The center of the Trulli District, and home to the greatest concentration of trulli, is Alberobello. Here the streets are lined with some 1,000 of the buildings. You might feel as if you've entered into a child's storybook as you walk through the maze of cobbled streets curving through Italy's most fantastic village.

The east coast of Sicily is considered by many to be its most magnificent. Lovely Taormina was called "the greatest work of art and nature" by Goethe in his Italian Journey. Situated above the Ionian Sea with Mount Etna as a spectacular backdrop, this storybook town of sculpted gardens, stately palaces and ancient monuments is easily one of Sicily’s most striking sites. There is much to see and do here; the main attractions in Taormina are seen on foot. Incredible vistas are available from Taormina's Public Gardens which are filled with exotic flowers and plants. In Giardini-Naxos, close to the pier, the Bourbon fort contains a fine museum, Museo Archaeologico. The entrance is via a garden bisected by an ancient lava flow.

Excursions

Palermo is a city and seaport in Italy on the northwestern coast of Sicily, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the largest city and chief port of Sicily. Many of the oldest buildings in the city date from the period when Sicily was a Norman kingdom and show Arab, Byzantine, Norman, and Spanish influences. Outstanding examples are the cathedral (1169-1185), the Palatine Chapel (1140), and the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (1132).

Excursions