Amalfi, Italy
Amalfi is a town in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of Italy. It is located at the mouth of a deep gorge in the Gulf of Salerno, at the foot of Mount Montecerreto, 1,316 meters above sea level, and is surrounded by spectacular cliffs. and Mediterranean coast scenery.
The Amalfi Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is named after Amalfi for its rugged terrain, uniqueness, diversity and picturesque towns.
Today the town is one of Italy's most popular tourist destinations, and it's easy to find some of Italy's most beautiful and expensive hotels. The Coast Cliff Road is the best choice for a glimpse of the whole picture.
Apostle Andrew is the patron saint of Amalfi. His remains are placed in the Amalfi Cathedral at the entrance of the town, making it a must-see for European tourists.
Amalfi was the capital of the medieval Amalfi Republic, an important trading power in the Mediterranean from 839 to 1200, and soon acquired importance as a great maritime power.
They traded grain, sea salt, slaves, and even timber from the country in exchange for newly minted gold coins and dinars in Egypt and Syria, which they used to buy Byzantine silk and resell it to the West.
The French historian and chronicler Fernand Braudel noted that Amalfi merchants carrying grain enjoyed a privileged status in Islamic ports. The maritime codex drawn up in Amalfi provides a maritime code widely used by Christian port cities.
In the 8th and 9th centuries, when Mediterranean trade revived and Venice was still in its early stages of development, Amalfi and Gaeta monopolized trade in eastern Italy.
In the 9th century, when much of today's Italy was still a barter country, Amalfi merchants began using gold coins to buy land, thanks to a thriving trade network with the Arabs.
From the 7th century until 1073, Amalfi was an independent republic of about 70,000 people, freeing itself from Byzantine vassalage in 839 and electing its first duke in 958.
It reached its peak in the first millennium AD during the reign of Mansu I, Duke of Amalfi (966–1004). In 1002, Amalfi sent out a fleet to repel the Saracens who attacked Benevento and Naples. Amalfi remained independent for most of his reign, except for a brief period when it became a vassal of Sant'Anologuilma IV until 1073. The Republic was reduced to the Norman County of Apulia, but was granted many rights. As a possession of the Normans camped in southern Italy, it became one of their main strongholds. However, in 1131 these privileges were abolished by Roger II of Sicily.
Holy Roman Emperor Lothar fought for Pope Innocent II against Roger II, who sided with Antipope Anacletus, and in 1133 captured Amalfi with the help of 46 Pisan ships. Roger II was captured. Amalfi's erstwhile commercial rivals, the Pisans, sacked the city, and Lothair claimed to have found a copy of Justinian's "Roman Law" there as part of the spoils.
Although its maritime code, the "Amalfi Law", was not recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570. But a tsunami in 1343 destroyed the port and the lower town, and Amalfi never regained the importance of its heyday.
In medieval culture, Amalfi was known for its thriving schools of law and mathematics. Flavio Gioia, traditionally credited with first introducing the mariner's compass to Europe, is said to be from Amalfi.
Amalfi has a long history of hosting tourists, with two former monasteries being converted into hotels very early on, the Convent of Luna in the second decade of the 19th century and the Convent of Cappuccini in the 1880s. . Famous people who came to Amalfi included Richard Wagner, a German composer, theater director, polemicist and conductor, and Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright and theater director known as the "father of realism". All of them were completed during his stay in Amalfi. Writer Gore Vidal, who later became a U.S. Representative from New York and a U.S. Senator from California, also lived here for a long time. #OverseasTravel#Europe#EuropeTravel#EuropeTourism#EuropeanTown#Italy#ItalyTravel#MediterraneanSea#Cliff#WorldHeritage#WorldHeritageTour