Liberal Arts Blog — The Amalfi Coast — From St. Andrew’s Relics to the Allied Invasion of 1943
Liberal Arts Blog — Sunday is the Joy of Humor, Food, Travel, Practical Life Tips, and Miscellaneous Day
Today’s Topic: The Amalfi Coast — From St. Andrew’s Relics to the Allied Invasion of 1943
This morning I decided to take a virtual trip to a part of Italy to which I have never been and share with you the highlights. I learned, for example, that there was once an Amalfi Republic and that it was the fourth of four “maritime republics” — the others being the more famous Venice, Genoa, and Pisa. Who knew? Amalfi’s heyday was from the 7th to the 11th century. But it remained an important trading center until 1343, when an earthquake destroyed it. Just to keep things in perspective — at its peak its population was 50–70,000. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE AMALFI COAST ROAD — from Sorrento To Salerno with Positano and Amalfi. in the context of Capri and the Bay of Naples
1. The Amalfi coast is on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula. (One of the most famous of Neapolitan songs is “Torna a Sorrento” (1905) by Ernesto and Giambatista De Curtis. Up there with “O Sole Mio,” “Funiculi, Funicula,” and “Santa Lucia.”)
2. North of the peninsula is the Bay of Naples, to the south is the Gulf of Salerno. Both form part of the “Tyrrhenian Sea.”
3. The Lattari Mountains (“Monti Lattari”) form the backbone of the peninsula and separate the northern and southern costs. The Lattari are part of the Appenines which extend from the Ligurian Alps in the north to the tip of the Italian boot at Reggio di Calabria.
NB: The Allied landing at Salerno — September 9, 1943. Before the Allied landings of June 1944 in Normandy, there was the invasion of Italy. Although the Italians had signed a peace deal the day before, the coast was defended by German troops.
THE TOWN OF AMALFI — an English drama, the transformation of the compass, the liqueur
1. Amalfi was the capital of the Duchy of Amalfi (958–1137). One of the greatest works of English Renaissance literature is “The Duchess of Malfi” (1614) by John Webster (1580–1632).
2. Favorite son: Flavio Gioia, who, allegedly, sometime between 1295 and 1302, “turned the compass from a needle floating in water to what we use today, a round box with a compass card that rotates 360 degrees attached to a magnetic element.”
3. Lemons: Amalfi lemons, used for the production of the limoncello liqueur, are “typically long and at least double the size of other lemons, with a thick and wrinkled skin and a sweet and juicy flesh without many pips.”
NB: Amalfi paper (“Bambagina”) is a hand-made, thick, and high quality. Developed in the Middle Ages, it is still produced and sold throughout Italy and Europe “for wedding invitations, visiting cards, and elegant writing paper.”
THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ANDREW IN AMALFI — dates back to the 9th century
1. Saint Andrew, the Apostle, brother of St. Peter, is the patron saint of Amalfi and his relics are located in the cathedral of Amalfi.
2. His relics were brought to Amalfi after the sack of Constantinople in 1208.
3. The cathedral overlooks the main piazza of the town.
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Anything miscellaneous to share? Best trip you ever took in your life? Practical life tips? Random facts? Jokes? Or, what is the best cartoon you have seen lately? or in the last 10 years? or the last 50? Or what is your favorite holiday food? Main course? Dessert? Fondest food memories? Favorite foods to eat or prepare?
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