The Sorrento Peninsula

The Sorrento Peninsula is a land touched by the sea, which overlooks magic islands. A great mountain protects it from the coldest winds, its coasts reassure from millenniums the romantic spirits and its multicoloured hills overlook a landscape, which is a history book, from Naples to Pompeii, from Capri to Amalfi.

Gods and heroes, imperators and captains, artists and philosophers; whoever has stopped here has been charmed by Sorrento and the pearls of this land which is simply magnetic. The Mermaids charmed Ulysses, Tiberius moved over when he was the most important man of the world… Time and man have made the nature of these places unique.

Walking through the historical centre you can find many architectural remains of different epochs, from the few visible ruins of the ancient Greek walls, to the Palazzo Veniero (13th century); from the 16th century home of Torquato Tasso, to the majolica dome of the 18th century, to the Sedile Dominova, to the procession of the hooded devotees, on Holy Friday.

The artists and the travellers of two centuries ago narrate the same olive woods, lemon groves, orange pergolas, and the symphony of essences, which can still be savoured today. They said that Sorrento is like “a caress and a melody” for the soul and they found the passionate feeling inspired by the Muse. Many artists have left a memory of the beautiful peacefulness Sorrento offers; Sorrento has been visited by Torquato Tasso, Giacomo Casanova, Henrik Ibsen, Richard Wagner, Fredrich Nietzsche, Mary Shelley, Lev Tolstoj, Maksim Gorkij, Herman Melville, Axel Munthe, Stendhal, Valéry and then Hackert, Scedrin, Escher, Leonide Massine, Rudolf Nureyev and who knows how many others, searching for tranquillity for their creative talent. Today many more persons can reach the Sorrentine Peninsule; there are airplanes, hydrofoils, ferries and trains, now Sorrento is a treasure offered to the entire world.

The residents of this land welcome everybody taking care of their requirements offering many different solutions in order to spend here all the time they wish: there are villas, residence, apartments, vacation houses… and each one on the hillside or on the coast, in the city or in the olive woods, offers a stay which no pen and no paint brush can ever adequately reproduce.

Giovanni Gugg