CapriWeb Home Page
A travel guide to the Isle of Capri,
Bay of Naples and Amalfi Coast, Italy.
Capri
Capri
Napoli
Napoli
Ischia
Ischia
Procida
Procida
Sorrento
Sorrento
Amalfi
Amalfi

Amalfi Coast : Ravello  (page 2 of 2)
RavelloBeyond the two famous villas, we cannot forget the other magnificient monuments in Ravello. Very remarkable is the cathedral, which keeps on its interiors an extraordinary museum in the crypt, where you can see some Roman marbles (among which a sarcophagus from the age of Gallienus), the bust of Sigilgaida Rufolo from the 13th century, marble decorative fragments of the first ambo and ciborium of the cathedral, silver works and reliquaries. The cathedral, built in the 12th century and renovated in the 14th, has a beautiful bronze door done in 1179 and a wonderful "pergamo" (pulpit) by Niccolò di Bartolomeo da Foggia (13th century).

At the town entrance we find the Romanic church of Santa Maria a Gradillo (12th century) where it was the noble parliament of Ravello. After the Arch of the Castle (a fortified palace form 13th century) we arrive in the large Piazza Vescovado (Bishop's Square) with its imposing pinewood. At the end of the square there is the wonderful cathedral of San Pantaleone built in 1087 by the noble family Rufolo. And also: the Confalone Palace of the 13th century, with a beautiful courtyard with point arches; the Town Hall, in the former Palace Di Tolla of the 11th century; the lookout terrace of the Princess of Piedmont, which overhangs the coast between Minori and Capo d'Orso.

Among the suggestive entanglement of narrow streets in the centre of Ravello we find also: the church of San Giovanni del Toro (St.John of the Taurus) with its pulpit covered with mosaic by Alfano da Termoli; the convent of San Francesco (St.Francis) built in the 13th century with its cloister and seat of a library; Piazza Fontana Moresca (Saracen Fountain Square). Unique and extraordianary is the Museum of the Coral: it has been founded in 1986 and collects coral manufats from the Roman Age up to the last century: and also cameos, inlaid pearl works, shells, all done in the centuries by the local craftsmen.

Other than Boccaccio (who in the Decameron spoke about the natural and artistic beauties of Ravello, giving evidence of the magic of this place) and Wagner, many artists have been inspired by this extraordinary atmosphere, especially during Romanticism. For example in 1819 the great English painter William Turner came here during his journey to Italy and his drawings of places in the Amalfi Coast are exhibited in the Tate Gallery in London. Today Ravello is also seat of the Europen University Centre for the Arts and Culture.

[  Ravello: page 2 of 2   |   First page >>  ]

Google
 
Web CapriWeb