Amalfi Coast

The term Amalfi is derived from the Latin Malfi, a sea village deserted by the Roman people in the 4^th century A.D. Others think the names comes from Amalfi, a nymph from Greek mythology who Hercules is said to have loved.  

Romans resided there, who had escaped from Longobard invasions.  There were lots of camps and marching forts called Castra set up to defend Naples, which was then a Byzantine city. The Romans needed to maintain good relations with the Byzantine for trade reasons. Amalfi became the name of the town in 839 AD after resisting Longobard invasions when their Princes coveted the rich town.

The people of Amalfi invented the compass, and in the early 13^th century its use spread across the Mediterranean Sea. During the Maritime republic, Amalfi rivalled Genoa, Pisa and Venice as one of the most important powers in Italy. The town was prosperous thanks to its commerce. Merchants had colonies in many locations on the Mediterranean Sea.

Amalfi was subdued for a short time in 1039 by the Prince of Salerno. Under Norman rule from 1131, the commerce in Amalfi decline because the Normans opposed the Byzantines. Amalfi did have a strong naval and military presence in the middle ages. This began with Amalfi’s contribution to the defence of Rome at the Battle of Ostia. The ruins of the ships built in the town can still be seen, and you can learn about the thirty defensive bulwarks built several times along the coastal strip that goes from Vietri Sul Mare to Positano. This tells the story of eight hundred years of how the population defended itself from the raids of the Saracens and Corsairs. In 1398. Amalfi was under the control of the Aragon family but suffered a plague in 1643 which wiped out a third of its people.

In the summer of 1807, Giuseppe Bonaparte visited the coast, was enamoured of it and decided to construct a road that ran from Amalfi to Naples. It was completed in 1854. In the twentieth century, Amalfi became a famous holiday destination for tourists, attracting actors, actresses, artists and writers. It remains a famous haunt of the privileged, the rich and the famous. The coast was listed as a World Heritage site in 1997.

What are you waiting for? Start planning an unforgettable holiday to the Amalfi Coast today to enjoy some truly magical experiences.