Things to see
in Sorrento (Back to
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Basilica of Saint Antonino (year 1000):
Dedicated to the Patron, it was built with a typical basilica
structure, with a nave and two aisles. It was restored between
the XVIII and the XIX centuries.
The interior consists of paintings of XV century, fragments of
an ancient majolica tiled floor and a remarkable example of
Neapolitan crib of XVII century, which was attributed to the
Sammartino School with statues dressed up with clothes realized
in precious fabrics and enriched with precious laces.
In a crypt below is located Saint Antonino? s grave, a Saint
known for its spiritual connection with the sea and its
inhabitants.
Cathedral:
Mainly made of intarsia wood, the cathedral overlooks the main
street of the town, Corso Italia and. The church is also known
because there was baptized Torquato Tasso. It was built at the
beginning of the XV century with a romantic style and restored
several times and contains a great number of paintings of the
Neapolitan School of the eighteenth century and is characterized
also by a grand campanile.
Sedil Dominova:
Built around 1450 and perfectly preserved, has been the location
where representatives of the local nobles met to discuss matters
related to the political and administrative life of the city.
The open lounge is surmounted by arches with a square base,
closed on the two sides by two balustrades and a majolica tiled
dome of the seventeenth century.
Very interesting are the frescos of the seventeenth century
representing the architectonic perspectives. The inner small
lounge preserved the marble inscriptions which are now at the
museum Correale di Terranova in Sorrento. In the area opposite
Sedile Dominova stayed a small fountain that gave the name
?Schizzariello? (small squirt of water) to the square
Covent di San Francesco:
It is formed by three buildings: the church, the convent and the
very famous cloister. The church was built in the XVI century in
a Baroque style, with a front in white marble built in 1926. It
preserves important works in wood, representing Saint Francis.
Next to the church we find a magnificent cloister of the
fourteenth century still inhabited by Franciscan friars.
The building has a rich variety of architectonic styles melted
together to form one work, an ideal setting of the art
exhibitions, festivals, concerts and events.
Marina Grande.
You can reach this place through a road that goes downhill, with
large steps. Marina Grande preserves the typical Greek structure
and it is dated around the IV century B.C. From this gate
entered the Turkish pirates who sacked Sorrento in 1558. Beyond
the gate there is a typical fishing village, a fusion of Moorish
architecture and local style.
Picturesque houses, built in the volcanic cliff, are still
inhabited. On this beach, in a shipyard under the open sky were
built the famous ?Sorrento fishing boats?, a typical wooden boat
with a sail, long from 6 to 12 meters, easy to handle and
unsinkable. The mastery skill of Sorrento artisans was so great
that the typical fishing boats were used by all fishermen of the
Gulf of Naples and nearby islands.
Correale Museum:
Wanted by two brothers, Alfredo and Pompeo Correale, the last
descendants of an old and aristocratic family of Sorrento it
provides a magnificent art collection. Walking along the rooms
of this splendid residence you can admire precious furniture,
European and eastern porcelains and rare Neapolitan and foreign
paintings. The building is distributed on three floors, with a
total of twenty four rooms. It also preserves an interesting
collection of European clocks and one of the most prestigious
collections of Chinese, European and Neapolitan porcelains of
the XVIII century.
The museum ?workshop of Wood intarsia:
Located in the old town, in a palace of the eighteenth century,
it presents fresco vaults and ceilings faced with hand painted
wallpapers, a rich collection of furniture and objects made by
the inlayer masters of Sorrento for all the XIX century. The
display highlights technical and decorative aspects of the
schools artisan workshops. The adjacent display of paintings of
Italian and foreign artists, of vintage photos and prints,
allows to reconstruct the nineteenth century image of the
Sorrento coast and of the historical and environmental context
in which the local production of intarsia developed.
Sorrento Cape.
Halfway between Sorrento and Massa Lubrense, we can see the
Regina Giovanna Beaches and the archaeological site of the villa
of Pollio Felice. To reach this area you have to go along a
narrow street, shaded by olive and orange trees, with the walls
covered by ivy. The cliff is named after the Queen Giovanna
Durazzo d?Angi? Behind the top of the hill there are remains of
a great Roman villa, belonging to the patrician Pollio Felice,
built at the time of the emperor Domiziano (81-96 A.D.). Further
down, we reach the ?Solara?, a summer destination of hundred
bathers.
Marina Puolo.
A picturesque seaside village, it counts today about 150
inhabitants and a territory divided into Sorrento and Massa
Lubrense. Nature reserves Punta Campanella, a protected area
notable for its biodiversity. An old sighting tower of pirates
rises above the village located behind the big beach. The name
?Puolo? derives from a distortion of the Latin Pollius, name of
the Roman patrician Pollius Felix, owner of a closed by
magnificent villa. Puolo area is involved with a Tourist
protection project.
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