More and more tourists traveling around Italy choose not noisy and crowded large cities, but go to remote regions - no less interesting in terms of sightseeing holidays, but much quieter and more calm. South Italy is quite interesting in this regard - here you can have a great rest, combining a measured beach holiday with fascinating excursions to historical places.
Amalfi Coast - one of the most interesting placesSouthern Italy, picturesque cities and small villages surrounded by lemon and orange groves, grown right on the rocks - a spectacle truly bewitching.
Amalfi Coast
The capital of the coast is Amalfi: a charming town that was once the capital of the powerful maritime republic and one of Italy's largest commercial ports. Today's Amalfi is an excellent resort, interesting for its unusual location - on a slope of a cliff descending to the sea. The houses here are connected by passages and stairs carved into the rock, and their roofs serve as gardens. The main attraction of Amalfi is the old cathedral, which stores the relics of St. Andrew the First-Called.
Amalfi houses are connected by carved passages and stairs
A visit to the Amalfi coast should not be limited only to the capital: Positano is also a former fishing village, and nowadays it is a favorite vacation spot for tourists from all over the world, and Sorrento is a charming city with medieval architecture, which was loved by muse ministers. Goethe, Stendhal, Nietzsche, Byron, Gorky visited here at one time.
The Amalfi Coast is a convenient starting point for a trip to the island of Capri, which can be reached by ferry or yacht.
Matera
Matera, located in the Basilicata region, is perhaps the most unusual settlement in southern Italy. The attention of tourists is, of course, attracted by the old part of the city. Sassi di Matera - The oldest settlement, all of whose buildings - houses, churches, chapels, are carved into the rock. The most ancient structures, whose age is about seven thousand years, are ordinary caves, later structures have a much more complex structure with labyrinths, stairs and passages. Ancient churches with altars carved from rock and ancient frescoes preserved here and there are very interesting - in Matera the whole Park of rock churches, with more than 150 buildings, has been preserved.
The most ancient structures in Matera are about seven thousand years old
Back in the 60s of the last century, people lived in rocky houses, today Sassi di Matera is a huge open-air monument, which has been invariably paid attention to by historians, tourists and filmmakers. In the old part of Matera, the films "Passion of Christ" by Mel Gibson, "The Gospel of Matthew" by Paolo Pazolini, and "King David" by Bruce Beersford were shot.
Naples
Naples is the largest city in southern Italy, famous as the birthplace of pizza, guitar and magnificent costumed masquerades. Familiarity with the city usually begins with its historical center - Piazza del Plebiscito with the majestic Royal Palace and the church of San Francesco di Paola.
Nearby is the famous San Carlo Opera House - the largest and oldest theater in Italy, as well as the Umberto Gallery - a magnificent architectural structure of the second half of the 19th century. The city has a great many churches that deserve attention - San Domenico Maggiore, Jesu Nuovo, Sangro di San Severo and more than four hundred temples and chapels.
The main natural attraction of Naples - Vesuvius - one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, on the slopes of which it is worth visiting the ruins of ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum. Artifacts found during archaeological excavations on Mount Vesuvius are stored in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, a visit to which will be interesting even to those who are relatively indifferent to history.
Familiarity with Naples usually begins with Piazza del Plebiscito
It is worth visiting the National Museum of Ceramics Duca di Martina, the Capodimonte Art Gallery, the San Martino Museum located in the monastery of the same name, and the Speleological Museum Enzo Albertini. For more ideas on which Naples attractions deserve the most attention, see our article What to do and what to see in Naples: TOP-8 ideas from BlogoItaliano.
By the way Naples is one of the cities of Italy, where you can quite comfortably make a day trip from Rome. And if such an alternative is considered, then our article may well come in handy - How to get from Naples to Rome and from Rome to Naples.
Alberobello
Alberobello is a fabulous town where people come to enjoy trulli - amazing houses with conical roofs that occupy two blocks: Ayia Piccola and Rione Monti. These funny houses are interesting because they were built of limestone using a special technology without the use of a mortar - the construction of the structure is such that if you pull one stone from the wall, the house will simply crumble, turning into a pile of stones in an instant.
People come to the fabulous town of Alberobello to admire the trulli
The first trulli appeared in Alberobello in the XIV century - at that time the law prohibited the construction of any dwellings without the permission of the authorities, which was not easy to obtain. The way out of this situation was the trulli - houses that, when inspectors appeared, could be quickly destroyed, and after the inspectors left, they could be built up again just as quickly. Now in these funny houses are shops, souvenir shops and bars.
Sicily
The picturesque island of Sicily is just a storehouse of attractions, but since the island is large enough and it is impossible to cover it all in a short note, we will consider only one of them.
Unforgettable impressions remain for everyone who managed to visit the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento, which was once part of the ancient city of Aragragas - the ruins of ancient Greek temples that have survived to this day amaze with their grandeur.
No less interesting is himself Agrigento: in the historical center of the city, which was formed in the 9th-15th centuries, medieval buildings, temples and monasteries are perfectly preserved.
Syracuse is considered the birthplace of the famous mathematician Archimedes
By the way, lovers of ancient Greek history will be interested in visiting Syracuse - The ancient city, considered the birthplace of the famous mathematician and engineer Archimedes. The main attractions of the city are the Archaeological Park with a well-preserved ancient amphitheater, as well as numerous temples and palaces.
Well, in more detail about the most interesting sights in this part of Italy BlogoItaliano wrote in a separate article: Sicily: the most remarkable places of the island.
Photo by: Jane drumsara, Michel Guilly, Claudio, Michele Landi, Maurizio Laudisa, Jerome Bon.
