Two Fratelli, monolithic and legendary stacks, dominate the first stretch of coastline that outlines the seascape of Vietri sul Mare on Amalfi Coast.
Cobalt blue, bright yellow, and deep green paint the features of the “First Pearl of the Amalfi Coast,” the first village one encounters from Salerno.
Famous worldwide for the art of ceramics, a parade of majolica tiles distinctively decorates every glimpse of this town. Indeed, the narrow streets, workshops, laboratories, and veritable temples of craftsmanship express the unique essence of this town, which from the Renaissance age until today, has made its way into the world through its ceramics.
The church of San Giovanni Battista in Vietri sul Mare
From its ancient Etruscan-Samnite origins, a symbol of this cultural and artistic richness is the unmistakable majolica-tiled ambrogette dome of the church of San Giovanni Battista in Vietri sul Mare, set overlooking a sea enclosed between the two bights of the Gulf of Salerno where history has walked along with myths and legends. An ancient history that harks back to the Etruscan Markinna, “a Tirreni condita,” wrote the geographer Strabo, a prosperous city flourishing with trade and commerce, destroyed by Genseric’s barbarian hordes and from which was born Veteris ad mare.
The persistence of the Vietrese people has unfolded throughout the centuries with industrial factories, gualchiere, textile settlements, paper mills, shipyards, and artisan workshops that have developed and increased a civilization of clay. Over the centuries, it has been home to many local, national, and international artists who have built a veritable art empire here.
The symbols of the art of Vietri sul Mare
Just look at the Arciconfraternita dell’Annunziata e del Rosario, with its facade, ceilings, and floors adorned with colorful majolica, as well as the decorations of the Villa Comunale. There is no corner, in fact, of Vietri del Mare that does not express the perseverance and talent of those who have turned this tradition into a true hallmark. Famous among the symbols of this art is the “ciucciarielli vietresi,” the iconic little donkeys of the area, made by the German ceramist Richard Dolker, who moved to Vietri sul Mare in the 1920s, paving the way for the advent of the “Germans of Vietri,” artists from northern Europe who revolutionized the Vietri ceramic style.
The seven hamlets of Vietri sul Mare
It is divided into seven hamlets, Marina, Albori, Raito, Benincasa, Dragonea, Iaconti, and Molina, each with its own identity.
Marina di Vietri, located on the slopes of the hamlet, is the access point to the long beach dotted with numerous bathing establishments. Raito is famous for being the residence of Lucio Liguori, a talented local ceramist, and for hosting Villa Guariglia, the Vietrese ceramics museum that exhibits a permanent collection of works.
Albori, a small village nestled in the high hills and includes in the list of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages; Dragonea, the highest of Vietri sul Mare’s hamlets where Gabriele Fasano, who translated “La Gerusalemme Liberata” into Neapolitan in 1689, was born; Benincasa with its votive shrines that line the alleys of the village; Icaconti, which rises about 300 meters above sea level; and Molina, which owes its name to the ancient presence of water mills, powered by the numerous tributaries of the Boca River.
Tourism Information Office Pro Loco Vietri sul Mare
Via O.Costabile, 4
Palazzo della Guardia, 4
84019 Vietri sul Mare [Salerno, Italy]
info@prolocovietrisulmare.it | www.prolocovietrisulmare.it | +39 089 211285
Tourist Information Office Amalfi Coast Tourist District
via G. Capriglione, 116 B
84010 Praiano [Salerno, Italy]
Opening hours until April 30th from Monday to Saturday (Sundays and holidays closed) 9.30 am : 1.30 pm | 4.30 pm : 8.30 pm
Opening hours from 1st May to 30th September from Monday to Saturday (Sundays and holidays closed) 9.00 am : 1.00 pm | 5.00 pm : 9.00 pm
Tourist Information Manager
Rosalba Irace
infopoint@distrettocostadamalfi.it | +39 089 874557 – +39 342 0602674
