Amalfi and the Cathedral of Sant'Andrea
The ancient maritime republic and the Cloister of Paradise
Amalfi, which gives its name to the whole coast, was in the tenth and eleventh centuries the first of Italy's maritime republics, a trading power with colonies in Constantinople and the Levant. Its sailors spread the use of the compass in the Mediterranean, and its maritime code, the Tabula Amalfitana, was used for centuries.
The heart of the town is the Cathedral of Sant'Andrea, at the top of a monumental staircase of 62 steps: its striped façade, its Arab-Norman bell tower with majolica tiles and its bronze doors cast in Constantinople in 1060 are unforgettable. The crypt holds the relics of St Andrew the Apostle. Beside it, the Chiostro del Paradiso, the Cloister of Paradise, the ancient cemetery of the nobles, has slender interlaced arches of Moorish taste. Amalfi is also famous for its handmade paper, the "bambagina", whose history is told in the Paper Museum in an old mill in the Valle dei Mulini.
Tip: in the evening, when day trippers leave, the town returns to its inhabitants; try the delizia al limone, a lemon cream sponge cake.
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