Sorrento, how many definitions have been ascribed to this locality, one of
the most well-known international tourist sights.
Sorrento, native city of the poet Torquato Tasso, who was born here in
1544; kind Sorrento; Sorrento: land of colors; Sorrento: land of the
Mermaids; Sorrento, the city of the orange and lemon groves, etc.
Each one of these definitions contains the truth because Sorrento is indeed
a very pretty little city where kindness and hospitality are a combination
that is handed down from one generation to the next.
Sorrento, not to be
rhetorical, is indeed the land of colors: brilliant or delicate hues
depending on the change of the seasons. If you just pause a moment to
observe how emotional a sunset can be when you gaze in the direction of
Punta del Capo, of Ischia or Procida, the outlines of which can be seen
clearly, you will be amazed by the variety of colors and the beauty of the
scene.
Or look, preferably from the sea, towards the majestic ridge of tuff
rock that changes color at every hour of the day. And then why not leave
your mind go back in time so that, with a bit of imagination, you can see
the nimble Greek ships ride the waves and Ulysses bound tightly to the main
mast to listen safely to the dangerous song of the mermaids .... or follow
the wake of the Roman ships laden with merchandise and busy sailors, or look
around the wonderful palaces that the Roman emperors built on our coasts,
among the most beautiful in the world.
Or again ships black as ink, fully armed, laden with ferocious Turks, like
those that in search of wealth and bounty, sacked Sorrento in 1558.
How many legends are told about these invasions; legends that are almost
always linked to the great devotion that the Sorrentines have for their
patron Saint Antonino and their well-grounded faith. lf you just go down
into the crypt of the Basilica, dedicated of course to St Antonino, you will
remain deeply moved by the number of votive offerings offered to the patron
saint, and reading from them true stories, both sad and happy, of a people
that is simple and industrious, influenced over the centuries by various
cultures. Many civilizations have passed through here: the Etruscans, the Greeks (who gave the city its urban layout that
is still clearly visible today in the historical center), the Oscans,
the Romans.
Later the subjugation to Byzantium, the sack by
the Longobards, the conquest by the Normans, the good
influence of the Aragonese. After a long period of stagnation, the
beginning of the 1700s saw a period of cultural, economic and social rebirth
for the whole Sorrentine peninsula, which reached its climax during the
1800s. This was the period when the tourist vocation of this area was born
and was established with its inclusion in the so-called "Grand Tour",
a journey through the most important Italian sights that every noble
European son of the time had to make to complete his cultural, historical
and literary formation. Thus distinguished guests such as Byron, Keats, Scott, Dickens, Goethe, Wagner, lbsen and Nitzsche, to just mention the most famous, came to stay
in Sorrento in search of sun and inspiration.
The same period saw an intensification of the more traditional activities
such as agriculture, sea trade and finally and progressively that tourist
industry that is currently the most important sector of the Sorrentine
economy.
Today Sorrento is a modern city with over one hundred comfortable hotels; it
is the home of a prestigious and rich Museum (Correale of
Terranova), that contains important testimonies of both the history of
the city and of the purest craft tradition of inlaid wood.
Sorrento hosts
important events in the fields of culture (International Prize Award "City
of Sorrento" for science), music (Sorrento Summer Musical Festival),
cinema (International Film Festival), as well as the ideal starting point
for visiting to all the tourist sights of the area (Capri, Ischia, Naples, Ercolano, Pompei, Positano, Amalfi)
and so...
Later the subjugation to Byzantium, the sack by
the Longobards, the conquest by the Normans, the good
influence of the Aragonese. After a long period of stagnation, the
beginning of the 1700s saw a period of cultural, economic and social rebirth
for the whole Sorrentine peninsula, which reached its climax during the
1800s. This was the period when the tourist vocation of this area was born
and was established with its inclusion in the so-called "Grand Tour",
a journey through the most important Italian sights that every noble
European son of the time had to make to complete his cultural, historical
and literary formation. Thus distinguished guests such as Byron, Keats, Scott, Dickens, Goethe, Wagner, lbsen and Nitzsche, to just mention the most famous, came to stay
in Sorrento in search of sun and inspiration.