The best way
to really enjoy the Amalfi Coast is touring by car.
Driving south from Sorrento, the road climbs toward
the Colli di San Pietro, then descends into Positano.
Once a sleepy little
fishing village and the secret of painters and writers,
its "fatal gift of beauty" has been discovered.
However, Positano's charms are still evident;
square, white Moorish-style houses set in luxurious
gardens, descend in steep steps down the mountain side
to the bay where, off-shore lay the Galli Islands,
legendary home of sirens who lured sailors to their
doom.
Today the scene is equally alluring. Positano can rightfully be called one of the most
picturesque towns on the Campania coast.
From afar it
appears to be enclosed by the beautiful beach of Marina
Grande and crowned by the green slopes of Mounts Comune
and Sant'Angelo a Tre Pizzi.
Tidily lined up on the
terraces sloping down towards the blue sea, are the
typical Moorish style white and pink houses.
Positano is embroidered by the narrow and
often winding lanes and steps which cross it and is
dominated by the splendid dome covered in polychrome
majolica of the church of S. Maria Assunta.
Where a wide enough space can be found, there is always a piazzetta and cafe'
with a gathering of people pausing from the climb on the hundreds of steps which lead up
the hillside. According to tradition, the name of the
town originates from "Paestum", whose inhabitants, after
the destruction of their town by the Saracens, founded Positano near an abbey already standing there.
Within a few years the new settlement assumed a certain degree of
importance in maritime trade, even competing with the much more powerful Amalfi.
A holiday resort favored by the elite at the end of the
19th century, Positano has responded adequately to the
tourism demand, and is today one of the most popular
seaside and holiday resorts throughout Italy.
Positano - Photo ©
Meeli Tamm
Today the scene is equally alluring. Positano can rightfully be called one of the most
picturesque towns on the Campania coast. 
Where a wide enough space can be found, there is always a piazzetta and cafe'
with a gathering of people pausing from the climb on the hundreds of steps which lead up
the hillside. According to tradition, the name of the
town originates from "Paestum", whose inhabitants, after
the destruction of their town by the Saracens, founded Positano near an abbey already standing there. 
