The Duomo of Amalfi, situated at the top of a long flight of steps, dominates the city’s main square. During the Middle Ages Amalfi was one of four powerful Maritime Republics of Italy. It traded prolifically with other countries, in particular the Orient and the Maghreb. The monument complex of the Cathedral (Duomo) is a testament to that past. Ascending the steep flight of steps gives the tangible impression of reaching up towards God. At the top of the steps are two bronze doors with a fresco of St. Andrew above that were cast in Constantinople in 1057.

The bronze doors are the main entrance to the Cathedral; however visitors today gain access to the Cathedral complex via a side door leading to the Paradise Cloister. Stepping into the cloister I noticed how peaceful and quiet it was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Amalfi itself. The cloister, Oriental in style, is the ancient cemetery of the nobility of Amalfi. A small Mediterranean garden is situated in the middle of the cloister courtyard and round the edges of it are sarcophagi, marble fragments with decorated mosaics and small funerary chapels. The Cathedral bell tower which is Moorish in style can be seen through the cloister arches.

To one side of the cloister is a door which takes you into the small Corsano family chapel with its fourteenth century frescoes depicting the Death of the Virgin and also Saints and Prophets. The chapel leads to the Basilica of the Crucifix. The Basilica, recently restored back to a single nave, was once dedicated to  Our Lady of the Assumption and subsequently to the Saints Cosmas and Damian.

The oldest part of the nave was the first Cathedral of Amalfi, dating to the sixth century AD. The church was extended during the tenth century and when the new cathedral was built adjacent to the original church, the two were connected by a long colonnade, remnants of which can be seen in the southern wall. The styling gives the nave the appearance of a Christian mosque. The nave was altered in the fifteenth century to make way for the Paradise Cloister and construction of small family chapels for wealthy families, a few of which have survived with fourteenth and fifteenth century frescoes.

Since 1996 the Basilica has been home to the Diocesan Museum which displays sacred objects from the treasures of the Cathedral of Amalfi. The collection displays many objects of interest including relics in caskets, silver skull reliquaries, a wooden fragment of Christ’s Cross, a casket containing a Holy Thorn, monstrances, vestments, sculptures, paintings and liturgical items. In the apse of the Basilica hangs a stunning fourteenth century Crucifix.

Steps from the Basilica lead down to the crypt where relics of the body of St. Andrew are kept. St. Andrew was crucified in the Greek city of Patras and his body was taken to Constantinople. Later, during the Fourth Crusade, it was moved to Amalfi by the papal legate Cardinal Pietro Capuano. The relics were placed in the crypt in May 1208.

The current style of the crypt dates to the seventeenth century. Beneath the main altar lies a crystal ampule from which on the vigil of St. Andrew’s Feast Day (and occasionally at other times) a substance called ‘Manna’ is collected. This is a dense liquid which sweats out of the tomb of the Apostle. The event first happened in Patras then in Constantinople and now in Amalfi.  Above the altar is a bronze statue of St. Andrew the Apostle which is flanked by a pair of marble statues of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence representing the Western and Eastern churches. Behind the altar are large images of St. John the Baptist and St. Andrew.

The back of St. Andrew’s skull is currently in the Reconciliation Chapel of the Cathedral so that it can be venerated by the faithful.

Steps from the crypt lead up to the cathedral which I found to be rather dark and slightly oppressive. However the guidebook describes it as a wonderful, inspiring spectacle. The current baroque style has obscured most of the original Romanesque structure. The panelled ceiling and canvases adorning the walls depict scenes from St. Andrew’s life. Both the left and right aisles have chapels containing interesting artefacts including a catafalque bearing a sculpture of the dead Christ, which, on Good Friday, is used in a procession along the streets of Amalfi.

NB:

• I have used the guidebook of the The Diocesan Museum of Amalfi as a source of information.
• Other relics of St. Andrew of the Apostle are claimed to be held in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Patras, Greece, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Scotland and perhaps in other locations.

As mentioned in a previous post we weren’t to keen on Amalfi. We found the town too busy and touristy for our liking with lots of crocodile lines of people following tour guides. This meant that apart from photographs of the Cathedral I didn’t take many photographs in Amalfi.

“The fountain “DE CAPE ‘E CIUCCI”

This fountain was built during the XVIII century in stone and two faces are in marble. The name derives from the old custom of when the donkeys (ciucci) which came down from the village of Pogerola laden with fruit, vegetables and wood, were led here to drink. Since 1974 the fountain has also been the centre point for a nativity scene, made of limestone and tufa, with characteristic figures, many of which are submerged by the flowing fountain water. The idea originated from Giuseppe Buonocore, Vincenzo Livano, Nicola Pepe and today the tradition is carried on by the Infante family.*

The above display captured my attention, it was a photo opportunity not to be missed. As I was framing my shot and waiting for a gap in the crowds a gentleman stopped beside me to see what I was photographing. When he saw the display it amused him in the same way that it had amused me which led to us having a brief conversation before we walked off on our respective ways.

*From a sign board above the fountain

After breakfast we headed off to catch the 9.35  bus to Amalfi, which surprisingly (after our previous experiences) arrived on time! We were travelling to Amalfi so that we could catch a boat to Capri. We arrived just in time to book the 10.30 boat with a return journey. I was a little dismayed that the return journey was a 17.15 sailing, we had intended on returning at 15.45 so that we could chill out on the hotel balcony, one last time…

When we arrived in Capri we bought a ticket for the funicular and ascended to the town of Capri. We explored the main street, peering in shop windows, whilst looking for a suitable place for lunch. A short way up the street we found the perfect place looking out over the bay. We lingered a while with a glass of wine whilst studying the map that we had been provided when we purchased our ticket for the funicular.

We identified two places in walking distance that looked interesting; a monastery and garden. We decided that we would visit the monastery, Certosa of San Giacomo and made our way there via some delightful back streets. The church in the monastery building had some stunning frescoes. We ventured into parkland behind the monastery, where we  were treated to spectacular views over the coast. We were the only people in the parkland and as we looked up we noticed the viewpoint from the garden which we had elected not to visit. That viewpoint was three deep in people!

Unfortunately we had to leave the parkland and monastery because it was about to close for the day. We made our way back to the main square via different back streets which were equally delightful as the ones we had walked along earlier. When we arrived in the square, we found that the Cathedral (Cathedral of Santo Stefano) which had been closed when we first arrived in Capri, was now open. We ventured inside for a quick look before we made our way back to the harbour for the ferry.

It is a beautiful church and, after sitting for quiet reflection, I arose and took in some of the features of the church. For some reason I was drawn into a side passage, at the end of which was a large silver bust in a showcase. I continued into the passageway, which I would describe as showing Christian artifacts. I paused looking into an open room to find a gentleman standing there. He picked up a white garment and for a moment I thought he was looking at  me and then I realised that he was holding a fascia and he handed it to a priest that had quite silently arrived behind me.

The gentleman then engaged me in conversation, asking me if I liked the church and where had I come from before politely saying goodbye. I realised that a church service was due to start and as I turned to make my way out of the passageway I noticed that the gentleman that had been speaking to me was carrying an incense thurible into the main body of the church. I left the church quietly, noticing that now there were many people seated quietly ready for the service as tourists were still pouring in through the entrance with their cameras in hand.

We then made our way to the funicular to be sure that we were in time to catch our boat back to Amalfi. It was just as well we chose not to sit in one of the cafe’s before we descended, the queue was rather long and kept being jumped by tour reps and their coach parties. The delay gave us time for only a brief refreshment in one of the cafes next to the quay before it was time to board the boat.

On arrival in Amalfi the bus to Ravello was timely and the views as we rode along were pretty and stunning as the sun was setting. However the drive itself was most alarming! The driver was not looking at the road most of the time. He was far more interested in chatting to two pretty young ladies that were sitting behind and to the right of him. He spent most of the journey with his head turned towards them :-O I was so relieved when the bus arrived in Ravello and I was able to get off and feel safe again.

Back at our hotel Mr C booked us into the Hotel Palumbo for our evening meal and we settled our hotel bill due to our early start at 7.10am the next day.  Once again we were able to sit on the terrace with spectacular views over the bay. Our waiter was quite insistent about showing and promoting the house wine, so we went along with it. We found out that the house wine is the hotel’s own wine; they have their own small vineyard. The meal was delicious with little surprise dishes added between courses. The first surprise, we were presented with was a complete baby octopus on a bed of greens…

All too soon it was time to return to our hotel for a quick nightcap before packing to return home the next day. The barman  remembered that he had brought a bottle of Prosecco to our room the night before and got chatting to us, telling us about plans for the hotel and also his personal woes. Our early night turned out not to be quite so early as we had hoped!

This morning I had forgotten to put the alarm on but, luckily, I woke up anyway. Straight after breakfast we made our way to the bus stop to try our luck at catching a bus to Amalfi. After a few minutes we learned from someone else in the queue that the bus had left seven minutes early! The next bus was due in thirty minutes so we waited and waited… A bus eventually turned up thirty minutes late, by which time we had been waiting for an hour and were just about to give up.

The busy journey along the narrow and winding roads with hairpin bends and a sheer drop on one side was reminiscent of a roller coaster ride. We found out why the buses struggle to keep to schedule, there is a particularly narrow stretch of road only wide enough for one bus at a time. This is controlled by traffic lights with an extremely long delay. At one point in our journey a van decided to park on the wrong side of the road blocking the pathway of our bus and also the traffic in the direction the bus was travelling. The van had left the bus driver with no room position the bus properly in the road so as to to easily make room for another bus and two lorries to pass by. It was a tight squeeze and, amusingly, the driver of one of the lorries waved at the bus passengers as they passed nose to nose. A bus travelling in the other direction stopped to let our bus, and the queue of traffic built up behind it, through. By the time we arrived in Amalfi the bus driver had become rather annoyed at the bad behaviour of the van driver that had parked up.

In Amalfi, we weren’t keen on the town. It was too busy and touristy for our liking and there were lots of crocodile lines of people following tour guides.  We walked up the main street and stopped for a quick drink before making our way to the Cathedral. The Cathedral, dedicated to the Apostle Saint Andrew, is approached by a steep flight of steps leading up to the image of the Apostle and above that an image of Christ and the Twelve Apostles. The building itself is imposing and dominates the Piazza del Duomo where it is situated.

A museum housed in what was the original Cathedral contains interesting artifacts and relics including a large 14th century Crucifix suspended from the ceiling and which I found quite moving. Before descending into the crypt we viewed the cloister, at which point my camera decided to play up. It was showing a black screen and I thought I had inadvertently “pressed a button”. I fiddled with it for a while and it started working again.

We went down into the crypt which holds the Holy Relics of the body of Saint Andrew which were brought to Amalfi during the Fourth Crusade. Beneath the main altar is a crystal ampoule from which on the Saints feast day and sometimes on other occasions, a substance called ‘Manna’ is collected. This is a dense liquid which sweats out from the tomb of the Apostle. The current cathedral is baroque in style and painted inside with dark gaudy colours giving it an oppressive feel. Inside the Cathedral my camera packed up completely and I had to resort to the camera facility on my mobile phone!

We had lunch in the Piazza del Duomo looking up at the Cathedral. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive I inspected my camera and found that the shutter had stuck closed meaning there was nothing to be done with it until we returned home. Our waitress advised of a place she thought sold cameras, but the shop she mentioned sold only disposable cameras. We were directed to another shop a few doors away but they didn’t sell cameras either, just photo printing services, and we were advised to try in Positano or Salerno.

After this adventure we returned to the bus stop to catch a bus back to Ravello. It arrived a little late but when it arrived we found we had the same driver as on our previous journey and his good humour had returned. Back in Ravello we booked an evening meal in the Garden Restaurant before making our way to the square to take up a now familiar position in one of the cafes. Back at the hotel Mr C phoned up the Citalia company rep and asked where the best place to purchase a new camera would be. She suggested Salerno which she described as a small authentic Italian town and a lot nicer than Amalfi which she described as touristy. Little did she know that Amalfi is where we had been earlier. She further advised that if we did visit Salerno we should visit the Cathedral.

Our next day’s travel plans now sorted, Mr C went to the hotel reception to report that the shower screen was broken making it difficult to open and close. In due course the maid turned up with a maintenance man. What ensued was much banging and clattering and a loud telephone exchange in Italian between the maid and a man on the other end of the phone. After a while the maid said “one moment” and the two of them left the room. A short while later the phone in the room rang. It was the hotel reception advising that the shower could not be fixed today,  and asking if we wanted to change rooms? We chose not to take them up in this offer as the shower problem was only a minor detail.

A few minutes later the phone rang again… It was hotel reception to advise that they were going to send the maid round with something to help with the shower problem! We were a bit bemused by this and I had almost forgotten about it when, about 10 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door expecting the maid but instead there was a young man standing there with a bottle of prosecco on ice and a couple of glasses!! He advised that reception had sent this with their compliments and asked if he could come into the room. He then proceeded to the balcony terrace and placed the tray on the table, much to Mr C’s surprise – he was sitting at the table reading a book. The waiter helpfully suggested that perhaps we should enjoy it as an aperitif before dinner. This sounded like a good plan so we sipped prosecco in the warm evening air as the sun went down before making our way to the restaurant for our evening meal.

We were served by a pleasant young man who helped us with our choices, however when the main meal arrived we realised that we should have ordered salad or vegetables to go with the dishes we had ordered so although the food was nice we were both slightly disappointed by our mistake. After our waiter had removed our main course plates from the table he refused to make eye contact and did not come back with the dessert menu leaving Mr C to flag another waiter down. Our original waiter came to take the order but his demeanor had changed to being aggressive and abrupt. I am not sure what we had done to upset him (maybe it wasn’t us) but it did put a slighter dampner on the evening.