Sorrento & Pompeii

Sorrento, home of Torquato Tasso, the romantic words of the famous song “Torna a Surriento” and the bewitching “Sing of the Sirens”. A place rich in tradition and the ideal place for who ever wants to take home a “piece” of this fascinating territory.

With a rich infrastructure, Sorrento is a real and proper city in miniature, with a main street studded with high-fashion shops, bars and restaurants. But it is in the little side-streets that the rich essence of the town can be found, a continuous mix of small wood-inlay shops, culinary products, stylish local creations and accessories garnished with the, lingering parfume of “femminiello”, the typical lemon of the peninsula.

In one of the little street is hidden Sedile Dominova, a small square structure whose frescoed walls will leave you speechless; and the Chiostro di San Francesco, a melodic fusion of diverse artistic styles  – today the seat of numerous

exhibitions and musical events.

Of equal interest is the Museo Correale, where precious objects that in which are collected objects and testimony of diverse periods are exhibited. You can visit Villa Fiorentino, ex Villa Fazzoletti, that hosts shows of the works of international artists. After a invigorating walk in the Vallone dei Mulini, our last stop is Marina Grande.

At the end of a little stone walking and the ancient Porta Greca, will discover the picturesquefishing village with it  characteristic fishing boats and brightly coloured houses just a few meters from the sea.

We want leave town until we have tasted a steaming plate of “gnocchi alla sorrentina” and a refreshing glass of limoncello!

I will take you to the discover Pompei, or rather the Pompeis, two realities, two cities extremely different one from the other.

The more fascinating is surely the ruins of ancient Pompeii, an important and prosperous city from Roman empire buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in ’79 along Ercolano, Oplontis and Stabia.

The Roman era city was rediscovered in sixteenth century and the streets and what remained of the housing and monuments were brought to light offering  glimpses of the everyday life of the people that lived there and the importance of the city at that time.

Today we walk among the small houses with dramatic castings recreating life at  the moment of the eruption.

We see the amphitheater, the sumptuos House of the Faun and the Forum, true heart of the city.

Instead, the new Pompei, is a modern urban centre, built around its greatest structure: the fascinating Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario.