What to see in Amalfi, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including the Cathedral of Sant'Andrea, the Civic Museum, the Amalfi Tables and the Municipal Library.
Tourist information
Amalfi is a town located on the Amalfi coast in the province of Salerno, characterized by a Mediterranean-like climate with generally mild winters and hardly sultry summers.
With origins dating back to Roman times, Amalfi became the first Italian maritime republic in 839.
Starting in the ninth century, it entered into competition with the other maritime republics, Pisa, Venice and Genoa, in an attempt to gain control of the Mediterranean Sea.
After reaching its maximum splendor, it began a rapid decline starting from 1131, when it was conquered by the Normans and, a few years later, sacked by the Pisans.
Amalfi Cathedral
Among the places to visit in Amalfi, the Amalfi coast deserves to be mentioned the Cathedral which is located in the homonymous Piazza del Duomo.
The Cathedral of Sant'Andrea, dating from the ninth century and dedicated to the patron saint of the city, is in the Arab-Sicilian style.
In ancient times the basilicas were two, with three naves each, of which the first is the old Cathedral built by Duke Mansone in the year 1000, while the second was built in the ninth century in larger dimensions and with a transept.
In the first part of the thirteenth century the two parts were united in a single church with five naves and, in the following centuries, further extensions and changes were made to the current appearance.
The facade today, which was built in the nineteenth century by Enrico Alvino, after the probable collapse of the previous one, is in neo-Gothic style, with a corridor connecting the bell tower, the cloister of Paradise and the chapel of the Crucifix.
There is also a mosaic decoration and a bronze portal melted in Constantinople in 1066, with a lunette above it containing a fresco by Domenico Morelli and Paolo Vetri, while on one of the two external sides there is the bell tower of the twelfth century, remodeled later and composed of a double lancet and a triple lancet top, with the upper part in Arabic style and the roof covering made of green and yellow majolica tiles.
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The interior of the cathedral, which was reworked in the Baroque style, features a plan with a transept and apse, covered with committed marble and with ancient columns.
Inside, the crypt, the chapel of the Crucifix and the cloister of Paradise deserve to be seen.
The aisle ceiling is coffered.
On the main Baroque altar there is a large canvas depicting Saint Andrew the Apostle, patron saint of Amalfi, of fishermen and sailors.
On another altar there is a modern painted wooden Crucifix, while in the chapels there are works of Gothic and Renaissance art.
What see
Amalfi paper museum
The Amalfi Paper Museum was originally a paper mill which was used as a museum in 1969 by the desire of its owner Nicola Milano, who belonged to one of the best-known Amalfi families.
The museum, located in the city center, houses the restored and fully functional machinery and equipment that was used in the old paper mill to manually make the paper.
Furthermore, on the upper floor there is a beautiful exhibition of photographs to document all the stages of paper production. It is possible to take a short guided tour to witness live the production of a sheet of Amalfi paper.
Amalfi tables
The Civic Museum displays the Amalfi Tables, on which the maritime code used as a reference to regulate the traffic of the maritime republic is reported.
Church of Sant'Antonio
The complex of the Church, convent and cloister of Sant'Antonio dates back to 1220.
The cloister is built in a very simple, Franciscan style, while the church, with a single nave and renovated in the seventeenth century, is in Baroque style, with a wooden choir inside and a painting on canvas placed on the high altar, as well as eighteenth century paintings placed in the minor altars and various statues, including that of Sant'Antonio, San Francesco, of the Immaculate Conception.
Municipal library
The Municipal Library is located near the historic center, where interesting books and manuscripts are kept which tell the history of the maritime republic at the time of its greatest splendor.
