What is Amalfi known for?

The first of the four Italian maritime republics, capital of a duchy that ran Mediterranean trade routes between 839 and around 1200. The cathedral above sixty-two steps holds the apostle Andrew's relics, brought from Constantinople in 1208 after the Fourth Crusade. Parchment-grade carta bambagina made in the Valle dei Mulini since the twelfth century, still produced in two working mills today.

Amalfi is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 31 kilometers from Salerno.

Campania · Salerno

Amalfi

The first Italian maritime republic and the coast it named, six meters above the sea between cliffs that close around the duomo's steps.

31 km / 19 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

4,729

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Amalfi sits at the mouth of a deep gorge in the Lattari mountains, six meters above the sea, four thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine people on a stretch of coast that carries its name. The town was the capital of the Duchy of Amalfi between 839 and around 1200, the oldest and for two centuries the most powerful of the Italian maritime republics, trading with Byzantium, North Africa, and the Levant before Pisa and Venice eclipsed it. The Tavoliere Amalfitano codified Mediterranean maritime law in the eleventh century. The Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea, eleventh century above an earlier basilica, holds the relics of the apostle Andrew brought from Constantinople in 1208 and gives the central piazza its sixty-two-step staircase. Paper has been made in the Valle dei Mulini above the town since the twelfth century, parchment-grade carta bambagina still produced in two surviving mills. The coast was UNESCO-listed in 1997 and the commune is Cittaslow.

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Gallery

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Known for

Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea
Romanesque cathedral above a sixty-two-step staircase, with the apostle Andrew's relics brought from Constantinople in 1208 and the Chiostro del Paradiso.
Museo della Carta
Paper museum in the Valle dei Mulini, in a thirteenth-century working mill that still produces parchment-grade carta bambagina by hand.
Arsenale della Repubblica
Twelfth-century stone-vaulted shipyard near the marina, the only surviving naval arsenal of the four Italian maritime republics.
Valle dei Mulini
Gorge above the town with the ruins of medieval paper mills along the Canneto stream, a marked walk to the Riserva Naturale della Valle delle Ferriere.
Marina Grande
Town beach below the centro, the working harbour of the medieval duchy and now the ferry pier for connections to Capri, Positano and Salerno.

Signature product

Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGPIGP

The sfusato amalfitano lemon; orchards terraced on the cliffs between Amalfi and Vietri sul Mare.

See every town in our catalogue producing Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May, June, September and early October are the strongest months. The sea climbs past twenty degrees, the ferries to Capri and Positano run on full schedules, and the SS163 cliff road moves before and after the day-trip peak. July and August are full: the town fills with day-trippers arriving by bus, ferry and private boat, and the duomo steps become a queue between ten and four. November through March is the closed season for much of the coast. Many hotels and restaurants shut, the ferries reduce to weekend service, and the working town keeps the mills, the cathedral, and the centro running for a smaller crowd.