Discovering the villages of the Amalfi coast, an Italian poem

From the sea, the view of the village houses clinging to the steep slope is a spectacular display of colour. The narrow streets, lined with shops and craft stalls, seem to rest on the white cliffs overlooking the Salerno peninsula. After a stroll through the craft shops.

While you're there, take the time to stroll through the village and admire the 10th-century church of Santa Maria Assunta, with its bell tower decorated with bas-relief motifs and its splendid yellow and green majolica dome.

This village, which has given its name to the entire coastline, is not only attractive for the beauty of its beaches and its picturesque town planning, but also because it is rich in history. Amalfi was a maritime republic, in contact with the Far East, and the Palazzo Morelli, home to the town hall and municipal museum, bears witness to this.

It is often referred to as the "invisible village", because it cannot be seen from the sea. A fjord cut by two deep cliffs hides a small beach overlooked by this perched village, surrounded by olive groves and terraced vineyards. Indescribably beautiful, Furore still retains its wild beauty and privacy. It was thanks to these characteristics that many Italian actors of the 1970s sought refuge here, to escape the limelight and the mundane.

Halfway down the road along the Amalfi coast lies Ravello. Ravello's panoramic views of the entire Gulf of Salerno are incredible, and its streets reveal an elegance of another era. Famous for the Villa Rufolo, bought by the botanist Francis Neville Reid and renovated by himself, the Villa's gardens are now one of the jewels of the entire Amalfi Coast.

The Villa and its gardens can be visited and its history begins with the Rufolo family, thanks to whom it was built and whose beauty we still appreciate today.