What is Vico Equense known for?

Two-meter pizza invented by Luigi Dell'Amura, called Gigino, in the 1930s; his pizzeria in the centro still serves it the way it was first made. Former cathedral built in the early fourteenth century on a clifftop, with a Gothic interior and a Baroque facade, see suppressed in 1818. Limestone massif behind the town at 1,131 meters, reached by a 1952 cable car from Castellammare, a Lattari summer escape from the coast.

Where is Vico Equense?

Vico Equense is a comune in the province of Napoli, Campania region of Italy, about 48 kilometers from Napoli.

Campania · Napoli

Vico Equense

The northern gate of the Sorrento peninsula, the Roman Aequana, where Luigi Dell'Amura invented pizza al metro in 1930.

48 km / 30 mi

Nearest hub (Napoli)

20,254

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Bandiera Blu

Why come

Vico Equense sits at ninety meters on a block of tuff and limestone above the Bay of Napoli, twenty-five kilometers from the city and the first town on the Sorrento peninsula coming from the north. A seventh-century BC pre-Roman necropolis predates the Latin Aequana built by Roman patricians for their villas. The medieval town that survives now was walled by the Angevins after 1284, when Charles II ordered Castello Giusso built on the cliff as fortress and residence. The Chiesa dell'Annunziata, the former cathedral of the Diocese of Vico Equense until 1818, was built in the early fourteenth century on a clifftop with a Baroque facade. Pizza by the meter, the gastronomic export the town is best known for, was invented in the 1930s by Luigi Dell'Amura, called Gigino, who served pizza in lengths up to two meters; his restaurant still operates in the centro. Monte Faito, the limestone massif behind the town, rises to 1,131 meters and is reached by a 1952 cable car.

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Gallery

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Known for

Chiesa dell'Annunziata
Former fourteenth-century cathedral of the Diocese of Vico Equense, perched on a clifftop with a Gothic interior and a Baroque facade, suppressed as a see in 1818.
Castello Giusso
Angevin castle built between 1284 and 1289 at the order of Charles II of Anjou, with a Renaissance residential wing and gardens above the bay.
Antiquarium Silio Italico
Archaeological museum founded in 1966, with funerary objects from a seventh-century BC pre-Roman necropolis excavated in the 1960s and 1970s.
Monte Faito
Limestone massif behind the town rising to 1,131 meters, reached by a 1952 cable car from Castellammare, with hiking trails into the Lattari range.
Pizzeria Gigino
Pizzeria of Luigi Dell'Amura, the inventor of pizza al metro in the 1930s, still operating in the centro and serving the pizza he created.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the working season for Vico Equense. June and September are the best months: warm sea, fewer day-trippers than July and August, and the Monte Faito cable car operating on a full schedule. July and August are crowded and hot at sea level, though the Faito plateau stays cooler at around twenty-two degrees. November through March is quiet, often rainy, with several beach concessions and lower-end hotels closed. The pizzerie in the centro stay open year round. The patronal feast of Santi Ciro e Giovanni falls on 31 January. Lemon harvests on the Lattari slopes run heavy from February into May.