A BRIEF GUIDE TO SORRENTO

1. SORRENTO HIGHLIGHTS A BRIEF GUIDE TO SORRENTO Sorrento is located on a tuff coast and is reflected in the Gulf of Naples, fascinating tourists and visitors, attracted by breathtaking views and landscapes. The town gives its name to the Sorrento Peninsula, a great area extended from Vico Equense to Massa Lubrense. This area, thanks to its geographical shape, suspended between the green hills and the blue of the seas, is from the time immemorial a great attraction of the southern Italy. The Sorrento coast is one of the most popular destinations of the entire Campania region. It is also the ideal destination for Italian visitors and foreign tourists, that want to plan excursions to Capri, Ischia, Pompei, Amalfi, Positano, Ercolano, Paestum and Vesuvius, places located at a distance of 50 Kilometres. Sorrento was first a Phoenician colony , after that it became a port frequented by Greeks for the commercial activity with Naples and with others southern cities. It was named by Greeks “Syrenusion” or “Syreon” that means Siren’s land. The Sirens were the mythological creatures half woman and half fish, that Homer told in his famous work “Odyssey”. These creatures with their song could fascinate the sailors. After the rule of Oscans and Sannites it was submitted by Romans. The Romans appreciated so much the beauties of this place that during the imperial period it was elected an holiday destination of patricians, as the numerous villas witness. From time immemorial Sorrento has exercised a particular charm which has attracted poets and literary men like Goethe, Lamartine, Stendhal, De Bouchard, Byron to D’Annunzio, Ibsen, Douglas, musicians like Rossini, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Wagner, painters like Pinelli, Fernet, Lindstrom, photographers like De Luca and the brothers Alinari, directors like De Sica, Gallone and Mastronardo. Among the famous visitors of Sorrento we can remember also Enrico Caruso, Giacomo Casanova, Scipione Breislak, Marion Crawford, Charles Dickens, Helman Melvill, Friedtich Nietzche ed Axel Munthe. This coasting town was included in the eighteenth- century among the main destinations of the Ground Tour, a journey among the most significant Italian cities, that was made by the foreign intellectuals who wanted to study in depth the Italian history, art and culture.

2. The Basilica of Saint Antonino The Sedil Dominova Correale Di Terranova Museum The Cathedral ARTISTIC GOODS Saint Francis’ cloister LANDSCAPE GOODS NATURAL GOODS Marina Grande Mineralogical Museum ARCHAEOLOGICAL GOODS ETHNOGRAPHICAL GOODS The Museum-Workshop of Wood Intarsia The Historic Centre Sorrento cape The Antique Walls The Deep Valley Of Mills Georges Vallet Archaeological Museum

3. THE BASILICA OF SAINT ANTONINO From Piazza Tasso, proceeding along De Maio Street, you arrive, in 5 minutes, at the Basilica of Saint Antonino, set in the homonymous square.The Basilica was erected in the XI century in the place where an antique oratory (IX century), dedicated to Saint Antonino stood, there where rested the mortal remains of the Saint that here found refuge during the Longobard invasion.The Church is rich with elements of spoil, like the column shafts coming, most probably, from the numerous Roman country homes present in the area.On the right side of the Church you can admire a splendid portal of the XI century with an architrave supported by Corinthian capitals of the Roman era.On the inside of the Church jealously guarded are valuable paintings of Giovanni Bernardo Lama and the representation of the siege of Sorrento in 1648, a splendid painting by Giacomo Del Po in 1687.Even the Vestry of the Church merits to be visited because it preserves two precious treasures: the fragments of an antique and elaborated majorica pavement and a beautiful Neapolitan Christmas crib of the XVII century, from the school of Sammartino, with statues made by the most famous sculptors of the kind. The clothes of the shepherds are made of precious fabrics enriched by valuable laces and cured in the smallest details.In a crypt - remade in 1753 -the tomb of Saint Antonino is arranged, patron of the city of Sorrento.Of remarkable interest is the collection of votive offerings present in the Church donated particularly by seamen who have escaped shipwrecks.In the lobby which precedes the Church, are preserved 2 cetacean ribs posted as memento of the most famous miracle attributed to the patron Saint of Sorrento. It is narrated, in fact, that a whale had swallowed a child and that the Saint liberated the young boy drawing him safe and sound from the mouth of the whale.As testimony of this wonderful miracle, the Sorrentines placed these two whale bones at the entrance of the Basilica erected in honour of the Saint.

4. CATHEDRAL In the cathedral of Sorrento couldn’t lack the examples of the local art, famous in all Italy: the wood intarsia. The cathedral of the town overlooks the street Corso Italia and it’s adorned with furnishings realized with ancient techniques of inlaid work. It was built at the beginning of the fifteenth century with a romantic style and later it was restored several times until the restoration of 1924 during which were rebuilt entirely its front. The church, in addition to the baptistery where was baptized Torquato Tasso, maybe the most famous citizen of the town, contains a great number of paintings of the Neapolitan School of the eighteenth century and is characterized also by a grand campanile.

5. SEDIL DOMINOVA It is refined monument, built around 1450 and perfectly preserved, it is the ideal place where met the representatives of the local nobles to discuss about matters related to the political and administrative life of the city. The only witness in all region Campania of the ancient aristocratic meeting point is that one of Dominova with an open loggia, surmounted by arches with a square base and that is closed on the two sides by two balustrades and a majolica tiled dome of the seventeenth century. Very interesting are the frescos of the seventeenth century which represent the architectonic perspectives. The inner small lounge preserved the marble inscriptions that now are at the museum Correale di Terranova in Sorrento. In the area opposite Sedile Dominova once stayed a small fountain. From this fountain was given to the square the name “ Schizzariello” that means a small squirt of water.

6. CORREALE DI TERRANOVA MUSEUM The Correale Museum is located on what was once land belonging to the territory called Cape of Cervo or Xeres, given to Zottola Correale in 1428 by Queen Joanna II of Angevin. The small building Correale built there was restructured in 1700 and in the early 1900s, with Pompeo and Alfredo Correale became a sort of cultural coterie. On their deaths the Correales donated both the land and building, with all the works of art it contained, to the city of Sorrento. The Correale is a Museum “Without kilometres of corridors in attendance, mansize” said the late Franco Russoli. In fact, wandering through its twenty rooms is like visiting an old patrician house with all its furnishings, its little unknown master pieces from which it’s hard to detach oneself. What does this small but precious jewel-case contain? On the ground floor is the archeological section with Greek and Roman remins found on Sorrentine territory as well as remains from the antique Cathedral of St. Renato. On the same floor is a room dedicated to Tasso which holds his precious works along with the poets funeral mask. On the two upper floors are precious pieces of 1700s furniture in Neapolitan and Sicilian style porcelain by Doccia and Giustiniani, Venetian glass and statuettes from 1750 by the Royal Capodimonte manufacture. The walls hold works by major painters from the Neapolitan School of the 1600s and 1700s like Luca Giordano, Salvator Rosa, Giacomo Del Po, De Mura, il Vaccaro as well as the most prestigious names from the “School of Posillipo" such as Duclere, Pitloo and Giacinto Gigante who with their water-colours alone merit a visit to the museum as these are considered their finest works. Not to be missed is the room dedicated to the old masters of Sorrentine marquetry like Damora and Gargiulo. Another sight which is not to be missed is the view from the orange grove which ends in a Belvedere overlooking the entire Gulf.

7. IL CHIOSTRO DISAN FRANCESCO A few metres from Piazza Sant'Antonino, where the Basilica dedicated to the patron saint of Sorrento stands, in Piazza Francesco Saverio Gargiulo - in the vicinity of the Villa Comunale - rises a historic triptych set in a tuff wall known in Peninsula as "conventual complex of San Francesco d'Assisi". The elements which characterize the triptych are: the Church, the Monastery and the Cloister.The Church, which dates back to the XIV century, is a triumph of baroque style with rich stucco decorations. It is a church cradle of precious "treasures of our memory" like a majestic wooden main door of the 1500's, two frescoes of '700 portraying Sant'Antonio of Padova and San Giacomo, returned to the light during restoration work in 1926, and a splendid wooden statue of San Francesco with Christ Crucified. On the outside of the Church- in 1992 - a bronze statue representing San Francesco has been placed, created by the sculptor Alfiero Nena. Near the Church a Monastery is erected, founded in the VII century, given to the Franciscan monks in the XIV century, and a beautiful Cloister.The Cloister is a perfect fusion of different architectural styles, on two sides of the porch we find crossed tuff arches, stylistic expression of the late fourteenth century; instead, on the other two sides impressive round arches on octagonal pillars are erected. The attentive eye can notice the presence of numerous elements of spoils coming from pagan temples, skillfully integrated architecturally and used as corner pillars.During the summer period, the Cloister is transformed and becomes the background for works of art exhibitions and of the Sorrentine Musical Summer, an extraordinary continuation of appointments bound to music with the presence of artists coming from all over the world. Rich with flowers, plants and ornamental trees, the Cloister is almost a place of tales, with its typical arch structure and the melodious chirping of the birds that in the spring elect this spot as their favourite residence, seems to transport visitors backwards in time, in an antique tale of the Arabian world.Visit it on a splendid, sunny day. In the shade of the porches or under a tree, you can savour all the magic of a place enveloped in silence, coloured by stupendous flowers made brilliant by the sunshine and rich in scents which mingle in the air.

8. MARINA GRANDE You can reach this place trough a road that goes downhill, with large steps. This road has origin from the end of the street “Sopra le Mura”. After few steps you reach to the gate of Marina Grande which preserves, despite the successive restorations, the typical Greek structure and it’s dated around the IV century B.C. From this gate entered the Turkish pirates, sacked Sorrento in 1558. Going beyond this gate you are behind a typical fishing village, represented by a fusion between the Moorish architecture and the real local style. From this combination arise architectonic forms, bizarre and picturesque like the houses, built in the tuff cliff and that are still inhabited. Here arises also St. Anne’s church, the patron saint of the village, was built at the end of the seventeenth century and later extended. On this beach, in a shipyard under the open sky were built the famous “Sorrento fishing boats”, a typical wood boat with a sail, these boats were long from 6 to 12 meters, easy to handle and reliable, unsinkable. The mastery skill of Sorrento artisans was so great that the fishing boats were used by the fishermen of the Gulf of Naples and of the islands. Heirs of this tradition are the fishing motor boat that are built still today in Sorrento and its surroundings.

9. THE ANTIQUE WALLS The historic centre of Sorrento, of Greek-osca origin, coincides ith the area included in the 16th century walls (1551-1561) still visible today in many points. The remains of the Greek walls, today, can still be admired in the "sopra le Mura" (over the Walls) area; an antique pre-Roman door exists as well, a few metres underneath the actual gate of "Parsano Nuovo" (New Parsano) continued to respect the urban plan designed in the tuff by the Greeks, and in particular built the walls to strengthen the city using big isodomic blocks as their predecessors had done.During the Roman domination the city of Sorrento was completely surrounded by walls with 5 entrance doors - two in the direction of the sea and three of the land - and a series of towers built to defend the doors deduced as being the most vulnerable: "Porta di Marina Grande" (Large Coastline Door) and "Porta Piazza Tasso" (Door of Tasso Square).These walls, remained a protection of Sorrento during the whole medieval age. The invasion of the Saracens, ferocious Turkish pirates, for centuries has upset the peace of the small town. They arrived secretly and silently from the sea and raided the small settlements along the coast, then went back up towards the centre of the small town to complete their work.From the towers, strategically positioned along the walls, the sentinels would sound the alarm and the people would leave their occupations and escape.The ferocity of the Saracen invasions induced the Sorrentines to remake and strengthen the walls; the works, started in 1551, were terminated 10 years later, in 1561.Still today, through the remains of those powerful walls and of those towers wisely built, it is possible to breath in the past, to perceive the efforts and the work done to build, rock upon rock, those walls with the hope that the Saracens would not be able to cross them...

10. SORRENTO CAPE This locality, halfway between Sorrento and Massa Lubrense, reachable also by bus, contains the Regina Giovanna Beaches and the archaeological site of the villa of Pollio Felice. To reach this area you have to go along a narrow street, shaded by olive and orange trees, with the walls covered by ivy, which goes down along the ramp degrading to the sea. The cliff is dedicated to the queen Giovanna Durazzo d’Angiò, who , according to a legend, came to lower herself into this sheet of sea. All the space behind the top of the mountain is occupied by remains of a great Roman villa, that belonged maybe to the patrician Pollio Felice, built at the time of the emperor Domiziano (81-96 A.D.) and was also sung by the Latin poet Stazio in his poem “Silvae”. Going on you can reach the “Solara” a expanse of cliffs corroded by the sun, a summer destination of hundred bathers.

11. GEORGES VALLET ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM In order to understand the territory, let's not absolutely miss a visit near Museo Archeologico Territoriale Georges Vallet, which through the preserved finds, it gives evidence of the different phases of population and transformations of the peninsula, from prehistory to the Roman age. The first archaeological museum of the peninsula, rich in didactic and multimedia supports, offers to visitors a heterogeneity of objects, such as: arrows ends of neolithic era, little jugs, examples of sculpture, archaic architecture and many others.

12. MUSEO BOTTEGA DELLA TARSIA LIGNEA A NEW MODEL OF MUSEUM FOR THE DECORATIVE ARTS The building that houses the Museobottega stands on via S. Nicola and is part of an ancient urban nucleus. Its eighteenth century structure is typical of a provincial townhouse with more consequential pretensions. The Museobottega is a polyfunctional structure designed to requalify those sectors of the decorative arts which have not only a past worthy of being recorded but also a productivity which needs to be sustained and helped to renew its contents. In the structure the cataloguing and display of the historical production serves as the introduction to a more ample programme going beyond the conservation of our heritage. There is a need for training programmes in the specific sectors of craft activity, and an autonomous production based on the techniques and materials which represent the best in the tradition of each craft. THE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONis introduced by the exhibition of objects and furniture produced in the nineteenth century wich focuses on the technical and decorative characteristics of the various intarsia workshops then active in Italy. This is designed to give to the visitor a better understanding of the specific features of the craft as it was practised in Sorrento. The exhibition of local ware is preceded by an extensive selection of paintings, prints and photographs of the setting for this local craft. Different sections in the Museobottega illustrate the evolution of production techniques, the materials used, the decorative motifs and the details of design which characterise the local production in inlaid wood. After recognising the part played by the local School of Art in training successive generations of craftsmen, the exhibition terminates with the work of local master craftsmen produced during the nineteenth century.RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION The principal objective of the Museobottega is to ensure continuity for the tradition of intarsia work in Sorrento by commissioning and marketing products reflecting a cultural renaissance in the craft. It is many years since the artisan represented a composite figure uniting manual skills with design acumen, once the secret of his success. The only way to contrast the impoverishment of the various sectors of the arts and crafts seems to be to accompany the artisan with a person well versed in the culture of the craft, able to offer assistance in the conceptual phase of production. The production of the “Alessandro Fiorentino Collection” is the tangible result of such collaboration. Intarsia work has always been considered a decorative addition to the item to which it was applied, whereas here production has been based on a new equilibrium in which the finished product is a univocal expression of formal structure.

13. THE HISTORIC CENTRE Between the town walls rest the monuments, churches and the testimonies of antique civilizations; walking through the streets of the historic centre, the antique Greek-Roman structure is still legible, memory represented vividly in via Pietà, via S. Cesareo, via Padre Reginaldo Giuliani and via Tasso.Along these antique streets, small dim lights aligned on the walls of tuff, reveal the treasures and tell the secrets of the historic centre. Via Pietà, an antique major decuman, timidly exhibits the Arab-Byzantine decorations of the Veniero Palace and the Correale Palace with its majestic courtyard with majorica tiles of the 1700's. Along the other decuman - via S. Cesareo - it's possible to admire "Sedile di Porta" and "Dominava", where the nobility of Sorrento reunited; inside the City's coat of arms and those of the local patrician families are portrayed. Its majorica tiled dome dates back to the 1600's.Continuing along via P.R. Giuliani and via Tasso, the portals of the antique noble homes, designed in Catalan style, appear majestic. It is between these streets that at dawn a scent of bread and sweets just taken out of the oven is diffused; and as the moon slowly gives up its place to the sun, voices are multiplied and mixed with the murmurs, footsteps and the thousand colours of the marketplaces that cheer up the historic centre daily. Then there is the "Casa Fasulo" where Torquato Tasso, an illustrious Sorrentine poet, found hospitality.The centre of Sorrento is extremely rich, each alley, shop, church and building, has a story to show and tell. Each corner hides a legend to be narrated and findings to be admired just waiting for visitors "greedy" for history and culture, to satisfy.

14. THE DEEP VALLEY OF MILLS(Il Vallone dei Mulini) In the historical centre of Sorrento, behind Tasso Square, it is possible to admire from above - in a suggestive perspective - a natural extraordinary spectacle: The Deep Valley of the Mills. The Deep Valley encircles on the south-east side, the tuffaceous block of the present historical centre of Sorrento; observing it from above a characteristic rift of the rock is visible, that carves profoundly and transversely the tuffaceous platform. This incisive rift has originated from the vastest eruption which shook the Mediterranean about 35,000 years ago.The potent eruption filled the entire calcareous valley with debris between Scutolo Point and the Cape of Sorrento; the waters which passed through the valleys - finding them clogged up with volcanic materials - searched for a new path towards the sea cutting progressively through the tuffaceous bank. The valleys became privileged places of the human's settlement. The pre-historic cave of the Conca (Nicolucci Cave), on the uphill of the Valley of Large Seashore (Marina Grande) and the settlement of Gaudo in Piano of Sorrento, remain two tangible traces of this phenomenon. The Valley of the Mills is incised by two streams of water: Casarlano-Cesarano and Saint Antonino. The lack of water has contributed to form very narrow gorges, only in the point where the two streams of water meet the gorge widens and forms a vast area at the feet of the Villa "La Rupe".The name Valley of the Mills, derives from the existence of a mill - functioning since the beginning of the '900's - used for grinding wheat. Attached to the mill, rose a sawmill which furnished chaff to the Sorrentine cabinet makers. Everything is completed by a public wash-house used by the women of the people.The creation of Tasso Square, since 1866, determined the isolation of the mill area from the sea, provoking a sharp rise of the percentage of humidity, which made the area unbearable and determined its progressive abandon.The new microclimate favoured the development of a thriving and spontaneous vegetation in which the dominant element is the Phillitis Vulgaris, a splendid and rare model belonging to the fern family.Today it is possible to have access to the remaining part of the Deep Valley crossing antique ramps engraved into the tuff with entrance from a trapdoor near the Stragazzi parking. Equip yourself with binoculars and camera and observe from above the remains of the mill and the splendid savage vegetation. The best position is Fuorimura Street, behind Tasso Square.