Sea Itinerary
Positano
The origins of Positano go back some 8000 to 13000 years, as could be verified from the analysis of the cave of the nearby town La Porta.
Taking a look at Homer's Odyssey we can read that Achilles visited this place already in the 15th century B.C. while he was on his way to the islands of Ischia and Vivara.
Various places along the Coast of Amalfi, including Positano, were chosen by Roman patricians for their luxurious seaside villas. One example of such a villa is the one at Positano, which belonged to Posides. It is from the villa of this nobleman that Positano takes its name and around which the present town has evolved.
There is no verified information about the inhabitants of the medieval period. It is only during the 9th and 10th century that documents assure the presence of Benedict monchs who inhabited the Abbey of S. Maria and S. Vito.
The monchs united the spiritual and economic powers of the town, imposing feudal rules to the local people who were very discontent about their new tax obligations. Only the death of King Roberto D'Angio put an end to the exploitation of the locals.
It was not long after their liberation, in 1131, that the people of Positano were invaded by the Normans.
Although this led them into crisis, they were frequently competing with Amalfi in trade matters. The presence of merchants from Pisa and Catalonia shook heavily the balance in the area of the lower Tirrone in favour of Positano.
The people of Positano used this situation to strengthen business connections with the ports in Liguria, the Provence and Catalonia.
This development is also mirrored by the big amount of ships in the kingdom coming from Amalfi and Positano, who were considered experts in ship building and naval issues.
The fight of the Angioini against the Aragons in the Kingdom of Naples led in 1442 to the victory of the later. The consequences of this victory were feudal rules, pirates, distruction and plagues which led to a deep economic crisis and the end of the era of the bourgeois merchants.
The following 250 years were marked by the presence of Duke Alfonso d'Aragon, which ended in 1699. It was in that year, that the population succeeded with great expences in being readmitted into the kingdom's property.
The devastating effects of history as described above forced many of the people of Positano to look for work elsewhere. Therefore Positano remained with very few connections to other towns of the Coast of Amalfi.
This period of isolation ended in the 19th century when the SS 163 was built, which brought the beginnings of tourism to town and is the primary source of income for its inhabitants untill today.
WEB SITE TOWN HALL OF POSITANO: www.positano.campania.it