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Amalfi Town

The republic that named the coast: the striped cathedral, paper museums, and lemon terraces above the harbor.

The Striped Duomo • The Paper Mills • Lemon Terraces

🧭 Why Visit

The coast's namesake wears its republic history proudly: a striped Duomo atop a grand staircase, paper mills in the valley behind, and lemon groves scaling the cliffs. It's the practical base with the deepest story on the drive.

🏛️ A Little History

Medieval Amalfi was a maritime republic rivaling Venice. Its Tavole Amalfitane governed Mediterranean shipping law for centuries, and its traders brought paper-making from the Arab world to Europe through this very valley.

💡 Did You Know?

Handmade 'bambagina' paper is still pressed at the Amalfi paper museum's working mill, and the Vatican has used Amalfi stock for correspondence. The Duomo's bronze doors were cast in Constantinople in 1057, the first of their kind in Italy.

THE WAY IN

Arriving from the West

The coast road reaches Amalfi through the rock. The tunnel is where the town begins, and the first views come from the road above the harbour at dawn.

Road tunnel entrance beneath a tall limestone overhang, with a white building at its mouth and a road curving in — **The Way In**The coast road reaches Amalfi through the rock. We came in from the west at dawn, and the tunnel under this overhang is where the town begins.

Amalfi harbour and its stone mole at dawn seen from above, the town on the hillside under a gold sky — **First Light on the Harbour**First light over the harbour from the road above the west side of town. The mole and the boats were still in shadow and the sky was going gold behind the ridge.

Amalfi town and harbour at dawn from above, houses stacked on the hillside under a pale sky — **The Town at Dawn**The same view standing up. The hillside and the houses come in above the harbour, with the road running away along the ridge.

Stone mole and harbour of Amalfi at sunrise, seen past a crenellated tower on the point — **The Mole from the Tower**A crenellated tower stands on the point above the harbour. From beside it the mole runs out into the water and the sun comes up behind the headland.

Crenellated stone tower above Amalfi harbour at sunrise, the mole and moored boats below — **The Tower at Sunrise**The tower again, standing up, with the whole harbour laid out below it in the first light.

ALONG THE SHORE

The Waterfront

West of the harbour the shore is rocks, a cove and houses stacked up the cliff. East of it the beach runs toward the marina under the crag.

Rocky cove with moored boats below cliffside houses on a coastal shore at dawn — **The Cove**West of the harbour the shore is rocks and a small cove, with boats moored off it and the cliff houses above.

Pastel houses stacked up a limestone cliff above a rocky shore and a road — **Houses on the Cliff**Houses climb the cliff in pink, yellow and white, stacked above the road and the rocks.

Calm morning sea in a cove with a stone harbour mole and a hillside town beyond — **Looking Back to the Mole**From the cove looking back east, the mole closes the harbour and the town sits under the cliff.

Pastel houses climbing a cliff above a road and a small boat on a rocky shore — **The Cliff Houses, Standing**The cliff houses standing up, with the road and a moored boat at the foot of the frame.

The Amalfi Terminal on the seafront, cream umbrellas under a yellow sign, houses and hill behind — **Amalfi Terminal**Amalfi Terminal sits on the seafront under the hill, umbrellas out, with the town rising behind it.

Grey sand beach at sunrise looking toward a headland with houses and a tower on it — **The Beach at Sunrise**The beach at sunrise, looking along the shore to the headland with the sun coming over the houses.

Pastel houses and the spired bell tower of San Benedetto below a rocky crag with a ruined square tower on its summit — **Under the Crag**The town climbs toward the crag, with the bell tower of San Benedetto below and a ruined tower on the summit above the last houses.

THE PIAZZA

Piazza Duomo

The square at the foot of the cathedral stair, with its fountain of the 1750s and the corners and tablets that carry the town's names.

Carved marble cartouche with a Latin inscription below a siren and two cherubs on a fountain basin — **The Cartouche**The basin of the Fontana di Sant'Andrea up close. Two cherubs flank a siren whose breasts are the spouts, and the cartouche beneath records the fountain's making in 1757 and 1760.

Marble statue of Saint Andrew holding his cross on the inscribed base of the Fontana di Sant'Andrea, cherubs below — **The Figure on the Fountain**Saint Andrew on top of the fountain, cross in hand, on a base inscribed HUNC TIBI PERPETUO SACRAMUS FONTEM, this fountain we consecrate to you for ever.

Building corner on Piazza Duomo with a mosaic saint in a niche, a sundial, a street plate and tourist signposts — **The Corner of the Piazza**The corner of Piazza Duomo, with a mosaic of a saint in a niche, a sundial above, the street plate and the signposts that point up the valley.

Striped facade with a carved tablet reading Sacrum Seminarium above a pizzeria awning — **Sacrum Seminarium**A carved tablet reading SACRUM SEMINARIUM on a striped facade off the piazza, with a pizzeria at street level and flags out of the windows.

THE CATHEDRAL

The Duomo

Amalfi's cathedral of Saint Andrew. Striped stone, pointed arches and a gold mosaic pediment at the top of a broad stair.

The striped facade of Amalfi cathedral with its gold mosaic pediment and pointed arches above the staircase — **The Facade**The Duomo of Amalfi, the cathedral of Saint Andrew, from the piazza. Striped stone, pointed arches and a gold mosaic pediment above the stair.

Gold mosaic in the pediment of Amalfi cathedral, a seated figure among angels above a row of apostles in arches — **The Pediment**The pediment mosaic up close, a seated figure among angels and kneeling figures under the cross, with apostles in the arches below. The mosaic was designed by Domenico Morelli, and the lower corners carry small inscriptions.

Wide stone staircase rising to the striped facade and bronze door of Amalfi cathedral — **The Stair**The stair up to Saint Andrew's, empty, with the door and its mosaic lunette at the top.

UNDER THE ARCHES

The Atrium

The open porch at the top of the stair, with its bronze door, its memorials and its painted lunettes. The atrium was rebuilt in the 1890s.

Green bronze door of Amalfi cathedral beneath a gold mosaic lunette, a notice board on the pier at left — **The Bronze Door**The bronze door at the top of the stair, under a mosaic lunette, with the museum's hours board on the pier beside it.

Two gold mosaic lunettes above the bronze door of Amalfi cathedral, under striped pointed arches — **Above the Door**Above the door, two lunettes. The lower holds a figure with a cross in gold, the upper a haloed figure among a crowd, against the striped vault.

Marble memorial with a bronze bust of Cardinal Pietro Capuano and a bronze relief of a ship, dated 1908 — **Cardinal Capuano**A memorial on the atrium wall to Cardinal Pietro Capuano, put up by Amalfi on 8 May 1908. Below the bust a bronze relief of a ship in a storm reads AMALFI S. ANDREA 1208 2008.

Marble panel inscribed with a 1988 letter of Pope John Paul II under the papal arms, on the cathedral atrium wall — **The Letter of 1988**A marble panel in the atrium carries a letter from John Paul II to Archbishop Ferdinando Palatucci, dated from the Vatican on 26 October 1988, for the millennium of its elevation to an archbishop's seat.

Striped pointed arches on stone columns over a chequered marble floor in the atrium of Amalfi cathedral — **The Colonnade**The atrium runs the width of the facade, striped arches on grey columns over a chequered floor, with the door at the far end.

Atrium wall of Amalfi cathedral with a marble memorial and an inscribed panel between striped pointed arches — **The Atrium Wall**The wall of the atrium with the Capuano memorial and the papal panel between the arches, and a painted lunette at the left.

Paolo Vetri fresco of 1929 in the atrium of Amalfi cathedral, Christ calling two fishermen from their net — **The Calling of the Fishermen**One of the frescoes Paolo Vetri painted in the atrium in 1929, scenes from the lives of Christ and Saint Andrew. Here Christ on the shore calls two fishermen from their net; below it a second panel, a boat, faded behind its glass.

Paolo Vetri fresco of 1929 in the atrium of Amalfi cathedral, Christ asleep in a boat in a storm with frightened companions — **The Boat in the Storm**Another of Vetri's 1929 frescoes. Christ asleep in the boat while the crew brace against the storm, and in the panel below, seated among a crowd in white.

OFF THE PIAZZA

Lanes and Streets

Stepped lanes, signposts and shop fronts in the streets behind the piazza.

Whitewashed stepped lane between houses with potted plants and an iron lamp — **Supportico Gaetano Afeltra**Supportico Gaetano Afeltra, the stepped lane we climbed from the marina back up to the town.

Cluster of white and brown direction signs on a wall beside an arched stair passage — **The Signposts**The signposts at the top of the stair, under the street plate for Supportico Gaetano Afeltra, with an arched passage climbing behind them.

Street corner with a white sign for the da Gemma trattoria and yellow houses beyond — **Da Gemma**The corner where the da Gemma sign hangs, a trattoria since 1872 by its own board, with the yellow houses up the street behind.

Bar front with an arched glass fanlight reading Bar Il Protontino, below a Hotel Fontana sign — **Bar Il Protontino**Bar Il Protontino under the Hotel Fontana sign, gelati in the window and a fanlight of etched glass.

LEAVING EAST

The Marina and the Road East

The marina in the first sun, and the view back at the town from the road out to the east.

Boats moored in Amalfi marina below hillside houses in early morning light — **The Marina**The marina in the first sun, boats at the pontoons and the town climbing the hillside above.

Amalfi marina and hillside town under a wide morning sky with lit clouds — **The Marina and the Sky**The same view with more sky, the cloud lit from the east.

Rocky mountain ridge above the rooftops of Amalfi seen from the coast road with clouds overhead — **The Mountain Wall**From the road to the east, the mountain wall above the town and the roofs at its foot.

Stone mole and marina of Amalfi below a hillside of houses, quay and lamps in the foreground — **The Mole and the Marina**The mole, the marina and the hillside from the seafront, with the quay in the foreground.

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Amalfi Town

🧭 Why Visit

🏛️ A Little History

💡 Did You Know?

Arriving from the West

The Waterfront

Piazza Duomo

The Duomo

The Atrium

Lanes and Streets

The Marina and the Road East

Live Prices & Availability

Explore More of Amalfi Coast

Agerola

Positano

Sorrento

Secret Beaches

Amalfi Coast Lemon Experiences

Amalfi Coast Boat Tours

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