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# 56 • MARCH 22 , 2015
# 56 • MARCH 8
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2015
read more about #Italian Culture and History
ITALIAN CULTURE AND HISTORY:
Vietri and its ceramicS
By www.italia.it
All the colors of the Amalfi Coast, the sea’s deep deep blue,
the striking green forests and
the golden orange of the citrus groves seem to meet up in
Vietri, particularly in the glazes
and decorations of this gorgeous Campanian town’s beautiful ceramics, produced since
1600.
Named as UNESCO World He-
Vietri has been famous for its
majolica for centuries, and
these splendid materials even
cover the altars, cupola and
the cusp of the Parish Church
of St. John the Baptist, dating
to 1732; this magnificent religious structure boasts colors
visible from far away, as well as
canvases from the 17th-18th
Centuries.
Walking Vietri’s lanes and corridors is a series of continuous
surprises, and it becomes the
routine to see many a building
decorated in the local tile.
Another one among these is
the 1600s Arch-Confraternity
ritage in 1997, along with the
of the Annunciation and of the
rest of the Amalfi Coast, this
Rosary, the interior of which
community not far from Salerwas frescoed in the 18th Cenno was struck on a splendid
tury.
site amidst hills and sea.
Of course, here in Vietri the coAlready inhabited in Antiquity,
lors of the cersmics’ varnishes
when it was the city of Marcina,
and shellacs blend amazingly
Vietri, in addition to its enchanwell with the natural scenery,
ting coastline, is surrounded
as can be seen in the tiled walby magnificent Mediterranean
ls (both exterior and interior)
vegetation.See
of the houses, or inlaid in the
roads and alleyways of this old
borgo.
Vietri and other nearby historic
centers – for instance Conca
dei Marini – make for a spectacular open-air museum, with
numerous workshops exhibiting and selling ceramic, plates, glasses, plaques and tiles,
as well as many other objects.
along the paths connecting
Vietri sul Mare to the Amalfi
littoral, are also a possibility.
These routes were trekked by
the area’s population when fleeing from the Saracens.
Look for the Tower of Marina
di Vietri, resembling several
other towers in this zone and
used to watch o