Positano is an ancient seaside village that has become one of the most elegant and well-known seaside resorts on the Amalfi Coast, standing in a marvellous and suggestive panoramic position.
It’s the ideal place to indulge in la dolce vita, in a dreamy, wild landscape of Mediterranean houses and charming residences, with fascinating domes like the colorful majolica of the church of Santa Maria Assunta, the town’s patron saint.
There are many ways to describe this place: there are those who call it “the city of stairs” because of the ramps that are often the only way to get from one street to the next (don’t forget comfortable shoes), those who describe Positano as a trendy center where you can find beautiful clothes and shoes made according to the diktats of the city’s famous beachwear and, finally, the adventurers who come here every year to dive into the gulf’s blue sea or manage to touch the sky with a finger along the Path of the Gods.
Positano is also an excellent starting point for excursions to the Amalfi Coast: from here, it’s easy to reach both Amalfi and Ravello.
Positano fashion
Positano is a trendy town in terms of style.
Positano fashion is characterized by dresses in light, airy fabrics that are elegant, fresh and casual.
Even the handmade sandals are Made in Italy, or rather Made in Positano.
True masterpieces of craftsmanship, famous the world over.
Ceramics
Even ceramics and majolica decorated in the colors of the coast are a traditional local product.
Positano’s shopping streets are a lively network of stores and boutiques concentrated mainly between Via Pasitea, Via Colombo and Via della Tartana.
History
According to legend, a ship carrying a painting of the Madonna was passing the town when it was struck by a terrible sea storm.
The sailors then heard a voice saying “posa posa”, prompting the ship to stop in Positano to save itself and the painting. Hence the name of the most evocative town on the Amalfi coast.
It’s certain that the Positano area was already inhabited in prehistoric times, precisely in the Upper Paleolithic period. The Roman villa found near today’s Mother Church of Positano and the many other remains of otium villas (leisure villas) along the coast attest to the fact that the Amalfi Coast was chosen as a summer residence by wealthy Romans, patricians and freedmen.
The earliest traces date back to the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, when Positano became part of the Republic of Amalfi and enjoyed a period of great prosperity thanks to trade with other Mediterranean countries.
Sad periods of Angevin and Aragonese domination followed, along with increasingly ferocious incursions by Saracens and Turks. To defend themselves, the inhabitants of Positano erected three watchtowers that can still be seen today on the coast: those of fornillo, trasita and sponda.
