Leaving Naples by air after a summer holiday in Sorrento.
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Monthly Archives: December 2019
Guide to Sorrento
Transcript:
INTRODUCTION
This is a film about Sorrento that will hopefully serve as a guide and impart a bit of information about the place.
Sorrento has its origins in ancient times and during the Roman period it was known Surrentum. It got its name from the Sirens of Greek mythology. on the other side of the Sorentine peninsular you can actually see the islands of the Sirens. Legend states that the songs they sung were so enchanting that they caused crews to sail their ships too close to the islands and end up being shipwrecked.
There’s a famous account in Homer’s Odyssey in which the Odysseus, on his way back from the Trojan war, following the advice of the enchantress Circe, got his crew to seal their ears with wax while at the same time getting them to tie him to the ship’s mast so he could listen to their songs in safety.
Today, Sorrento sings a different siren song, a song that attracts tourists in large numbers.
This film shows some of the things that you can see in Sorrento. It organises them around three areas.
These are:
- the area around the main piazza – Tasso Square,
- the main street – Corso Italia,
- and the piazza that is named after Sorrento’s patron saint – St Antonino Square.
These will now be covered in turn.
PART 1
STATUE OF ST ANTONINO (PATRON SAINT OF SORRENTO)
On the eastern side of the square is a statue of Sorrento’s patron saint – Saint Antonino
Sant’Antonino Abate was born around 555 AD in Campagna near Salerno.
He was a monk at the monastery of Monte Cassino until it was attacked by the Lombards. He later settled in Sorrento and for a time served as its Bishop.
Amongst other things, he is credited with saving Sorrento from invasion by the Moors.
A famous miracle that he performed was to save a child who had been swallowed up by a whale. The whale is depicted on the statue resting subdued under his left foot.
His feast day is celebrated on the same day as that of St Valentine, 14th of February. As part of the celebrations a silver statue of the saint is carried in religious precession along the streets.
After he died around 625 AD, he is said to have been buried within the city walls to make it invulnerable to attack.
The exact location is marked today by the Basilica of Saint Antonino. This is located in St Antonino Square a short distance away from the main Tasso Square.
STATUE OF TORQUATO TASSO
If you look to your right as you enter Tasso Square from the west on the Corso Italia you see a statue of the man after whom the square is named.
Torquato Tasso was a sixteenth century Italian poet whose most famous work is Gerusalemme jerusaleme libertata – Jerusalem Delivered.
This work, completed in 1581, depicts events around the Siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.
Tasso was born in Sorrento on 11 March 1544 and died in Rome on 25 April 1595.
Like some other men of artistic genius, he was a tortured soul and it is thought he suffered from bipolarity.
The statue itself was created by the Neapolitan sculptor and painter Gennaro Calì in 1870.
VIA SANTA MARIA DELLA PIETÀ
If you go just behind and to the right of Tasso’s statue you come to the Via Santa Maria Della Pieta. This is one of Sorrento’s medieval streets and the area contains some of its oldest buildings. This was a main thoroughfare long before the creation of today’s Corso Italia.
This is an interesting side street that leads to a restaurant. The stone arches up above add to the mediaeval feel of the setting.
Back on the main alleyway you’ll see places set out for al fresco dining. The street actually connects Tasso Square to the cathedral that is dedicated to Saints Philip and James. The arch up ahead takes you under the Cathedral’s bell tower.
Half way through on your right you can see people walking past the bell tower on the Corso Italia which runs parallel to this street. You can see people entering the Corso Italia from the interesting backstreets of the old town.
If you continue walking under the bell tower you finally emerge in the vicinity of the cathedral itself.
CHURCH OF ANTUARIO DELLA MADONNA DEL CARMINE
We now return to Tasso Square to look at the Church of Antuario Della Maddona Del Carmine. It’s a yellow pastel coloured building near the statue of St Antonino and his whale.
The Church is believed to mark the general area where a group of Sorrentine Christians were martyred during the Roman period under the anti-Christian laws of the Emperor Diocletian. It was originally the site of a pagan temple, but this was replaced by a Christian Church in the third century AD. The current church was built in the Baroque style in 1572 and dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Here’s the church from just inside the door.
The ceiling of the church is quite spectacular with a painting by Onofrio Avellino called Madonna in Glory with Saints and Angels
VALLEY OF THE MILLS
If you walk a short distance beyond the taxi rank you come to a site from Sorrento’s industrial past – The Valley of the Mills. These are the remains of flour mills that date back to the 13th century. They are built in a crevice that opened up due to seismic activity around 35 thousand years ago. The mills were attracted to the location by the flowing water at the bottom of this crevice.
The area fell into disuse in the 1940s after flour production moved elsewhere – it then started to revert back to nature.
That concludes our exploration of the area around Tasso Square.
PART 2
CORSO ITALIA
Corso Italia is Sorrento’s main street. It runs right through Tasso Square, but I think that the most interesting part is at the western side of the square. The western side is the side you can see now up ahead. We’re looking at it from this angle so you know its position in relation to Tasso Square. However, we’re going to explore the street from the far end and work our way back to the square.
Here we are at the far end right next to Sorrento’s hospital. The first place we come to is the Piazza Andrea Veniero. This square often contains market stalls where you can buy souvenirs.
ROUTE TO MARINA GRANDE VIA THE CHURCH OF ANNUNCIATION
There’s a route down to the beach at Marina Grande that you can take from this square. The route to Marina Grande involves turning left at the beginning of the square and then turning left again at the back of the square. On the left we walk past the Church of Annunciation which is thought to be built on the site of and ancient temple to the goddess Cybele.
The journey to the beach involves navigating some of Sorrento’s ancient narrow backstreets. Part way down you come to a viewing platform where you can get you first proper glimpse of the fishing village of Marina Grande.
THE GREEK GATE
We enter Marina Grande through the Greek Gate which was built in the fourth century BC after this part of Italy had been colonised by the Ancient Greeks. We are greeted by a view of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius.
MARINA GRANDE
Here’s a view of Marina Grande as you got down the steps to the harbour area. There’s an attractive collection of pastel coloured buildings around the harbour and you can see hotels built into the cliffs up above.
There are places where you can hire boats and book trips at Marina Grande. Here you can see one boat on its way out. As you can see there are quite a few small pleasure boats moored in the harbour. Some of them are quite colourful.
Here you can see fishermen mending their nets. You can also see boats from the fishing fleet together with some of their fishing equipment.
Going hand in hand with the catching of fish are the local selection of fish restaurants. The distance between sea and table is a short one and this should ensure a good selection of very fresh seafood. As you can see there are quite a range of places where you can eat.
This one that I went to is called Taverna Azzurra and like most of them is right next to the beech. Here is some of the food that we had while eating there.
We’ll now take a look at the small beach. There are plenty of places where you can rent sunbeds and parasols. If you get on the front row you can sit while the water laps up against your feet. Its also a nice place for bathing, though it can be a bit pebbly in places. You can be joined at the waterside by they local bird life. As you can see from the flag fluttering in the breeze above the beech, this is a blue flag beach.
If you look down the coast from Marina Grande you can see how Sorrento is built above quite tall cliffs. This, of course, enhances the views that you have when looking out to see from Sorrento itself. I’ll conclude this section of the film with the view of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from Marina Grande.
We now continue our journey down Sorrento’s main street – Corso Italia.
CHAPLIN’S IRISH BAR
The next place we’re going to look at is on the left. You can see its distinctive green awning up ahead. This is Chaplin’s Irish Bar. I include this in the film because it is close to where I usually stay and therefore serves as my local pub while I’m in Sorrento.
As you can see here the staff are very warm and friendly. Here, Mario has a joke with my dad about his lack of understanding of the Italian language. Some people come here to watch sporting events and there are numerous TV screens distributed throughout the bar. According this flag, it also serves as the Sorrento Celtic Supporters’ Club.
Since it’s run by Italians, I refer to it as the Irish Bar with an Italian twist. It’s therefore quite a unique place, and it attracts people from around the world, in addition to Ireland, and can have quite a cosmopolitan vibe. It can sometimes get quite noisy with a lot of singing along and sometime people also opt to dance. It can get quite busy and the staff will try to get people seats, so don’t be surprised if you make new friends.
We now move on from Chaplin’s and continue walking on Corso Italia towards Tasso Square.
RISTORANTI PARRUCCIANO FAVORITE
Further up the street on the right we come to a restaurant called Ristoranti Parrucciano Favorite. People might not know that Sorrento was actually the site of a culinary innovation. It was in this restaurant that cannelloni was invented over a century ago and at that time was called strascinata. Up the stairs you can dine in a rather magnificent Mediterranean garden.
THE CITY WALLS
Before we get to the cathedral and bell tower, we reach a street on the right called Via Antonino Sersale, which leads to the city walls. The street begins at this archway. You can see the wall at the arch up ahead. Next to the wall on the right you can see some metal gates. The stairs behind them lead to the Parsano Bastion and part of the wall. The sign on the gates gives the opening times when people can come and visit this feature of Sorrento. The archaeological evidence suggests that Sorrento had walls as long ago as the 4th century BC. However, the current walls date back to the 16th century. They were built during the period of Spanish rule to defend againt Saracen pirates who raided various parts of the Italian peninsular. Near the middle of this stretch of wall, behind a gate, you can see some old steps that go up to the top of the wall. Looking back up towards the wall you can see how houses were subsequently built into it in more recent times.
We now return to the Corso Italia to continue our route towards Tasso Square.
THE CATHEDRAL AND BELL TOWER
The red and yellow coloured tower up ahead is an important Sorrento landmark – this is the bell tower of Sorrento Cathedral. We see the cathedral on our right just before we reach the tower. Here’s the tower from a different angle. The columns beside the tower’s archway date back to ancient times. The archway under the bell tower links Corso Italia to Via Santa Maria della Pieta. The space beneath the tower was used as a meeting place during the Middle Ages. The lower part of the tower structure dates back to the 11th century and the upper the 15th.
THE OLD TOWN
If you look back across Corso Italia from under the Bell Tower you are looking straight down a street called Largo Padre Reginaldo Giuliani. This is one of the streets leading off Corso Italia into the historic centre or old town of Sorrento. To many, this part of town is known affectionately as the drains, though others don’t like this term.
The next bit of footage starts at the opposite end of this street. Here we are at the bottom of the hill heading in the direction of the cathedral. In this area there a quite a few restaurants with waiters trying to persuade you into their particular establishment.
There are plenty of shops in the old town where you can buy souvenirs for friends and relatives back home. One thing there is certainly a lot of in Sorrento is limoncello. There are lots of nooks and crannies in the medieval streets of the maze like old town. There are of course the usual shops selling Sorrento calendars to remind you of your holiday and Sorrento postcards to send to people at home. In some ways the old town of Sorrento puts me in mind of the souks of North Africa and the Middle East or of the bazaars of the Arabian Nights.
THE CHRISTMAS SHOP
There’s a noteworthy shop down one of the alleyways of the old town. That is the Christmas Shop. You might be on your summer holidays but in here you can buy Christmas decorations to remind you of Sorrento in the midst of winter. You can get some interesting decorations that you certainly would not be able to obtain in the shops back home. Some of these are specific to Sorrento such as those shaped like lemons or those with Sorrentine landscapes painted on them. They are all sold with Christmas music playing on merrily in the background.
We now head back out of the rabbit warran of the old town to Corso Italia.
LA PASSEGGIATA
As we re-enter Corso Italia I would like to say a few words about the Italian custom of La Passeggiata. In Italy as the sun begins to go down, people engage in a social event known as La Passeggiata. This is when Italians dress up and embark on a slow promenade in a town’s main street or central piazza. It is a time to see and be seen. You will often see this on the Corso Italia with smartly dressed groups slowly walking and talking. However, in Sorrento it may be difficult to distinguish between this and the many wedding groups that also walk through Sorrento’s streets.
Up ahead, on the far side of Tasso Square, we can see the yellow coloured Church of Antuario Della Maddona Del Carmine. This concludes of our exploration of Corso Italia at the Western end of Tasso Square.
PART 3
A short walk from the main Tasso Square is Piazza S Antonino – St Antonino’s Square. To get there, we head down the road to the right of Bar Ercolano, the one with the palm trees.
BASILICA OF SAINT ANTONINO
If you look to your right as you enter the square you see the Basilica of Saint Antonino. This contains the remains of Sorrento’s patron saint and was built in the 11th century. There are two whale bones at the entrance that are supposed to be the actual bones of the whale from which the saint famously rescued a child.
PIAZZA S ANTONINO
We turn now and look up at the square itself. It’s dominated by the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Grazie. It was built around 1556 in accordance with the will of the Sorrentine noblewoman Bernardina Donnorso
At the centre of the square there’s a delightful garden. In the garden, as is befitting for a square named after Sorrento’s Patron Saint, there is a statue of St Antonino Abbate.
Another statue of the saint is situated in Tasso Square.
FOREIGNERS’ CLUB
We now move off the square down this street. Our next stop is on the right near the blue and white signs. A bit off the beaten track and therefore easy to miss is Foreigners’ Club. This is also the site of the Tourist Information Office. The desk is just inside the entrance, to the right. There are also some free public toilets in this building.
To get to Foreigners’ Club itself, once inside this building, you veer off to the left, walking past the bar and onto the terrace. I understand that the place got its name because it was the site of a bar set up by allied soldiers during World War II.
The restaurant provides magnificent views of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. Even though there’s quite a broad menu, I tend to have a pizza when I come here because I think they’re the best in town.
When you come out of Foreigners club, turn left. Then turn right when you reach St Antonio Square. This leads to quite a few places of interest including: the Cloiser of S Francesco, the Villa Communale Park and its viewing platform, the beach of S Frecesco, and Marina Piccola.
CLOISTER OF S FRANCESCO
First we go under the arch near the railings. This leads to the Cloister of San Francesco, which formed part of a Monastery. This dates back to the 14th century. The courtyard is enclosed by a portico formed by Gothic arches.
This is a popular location for holding weddings and you’ll frequently see a wedding party congregating outside as they wait for a ceremony to take place. Outside, you may also see wedding photos being taken that use the Bay of Naples as an unforgettable backdrop.
VILLA COMMUNALE PARK & VIEWING PLATFORM
We now enter the picturesque Villa Communale Park which contains a rather beautiful gardern.
The viewing platform provides magnificent views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It’s particularly atmospheric near dusk when the sun is beginning to set.
The view gives you a good impression of the geography of the Bay of Naples. Since the view incorporates Vesuvius, your mind naturally goes back to what you would have seen from this spot back in AD 79, when the eruptions that caused the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum were taking place.
Over there on the other side of the bay was the Roman naval base of Misenum. It was there where Pliny the Elder was stationed as the commander of the Roman Fleet. It was the testimony of Pliny’s young nephew who gave use the details of the actual eruption. Pliny famously raced across the bay to save a friend trapped at the end of the Sorrentine peninsular at Stabiae. This was close to the current Castellammare di Stabia which is located over there beyond the cliffs. It was near here at Castellammare di Stabia where Pliny became yet another victim of that famous volcanic eruption.
BEACH OF S FRANCESCO
The viewing platform at Villa Communale also allows you to take a look at the beach area S Francesco from above. The clear blue water looks very inviting from up here, especially on hot day. There are plenty of places down there where you can hire deck chairs, sunbeds and parasols at the various lidos.
MARINA PICCOLA
You can also see a bit of the main port of Marina Piccola from the viewing platform. It’s from there that you can buy tickets for trips further afield to places like Capri, Positano and Amalfi. From up here, it’s sometimes quite pleasant to just watch the various boats coming and going from the port as you while away the day.
ELEVATOR
At the edge of the viewing platform you can buy tickets for the lift to get down to sea level. You buy them from the booth, and you’ll need them at the turnstiles at the bottom to get out.
Turn right to walk towards the port of Marina Piccola. As you walk you’ll see the beach areas and lidos that we were previously viewing from above only moments ago.
If you walk a little bit further you reach Marina Piccola which has its share of restaurants, bars and shops as well as an area to get your boat tickets.
If you got a return ticket, to get back into Sorrento, simply retrace your steps and get the lift back up to the viewing platform.
That concludes our exploration of the area around St Antonino Square.
Sorrento: Exploring the Area Around Piazza S Antonino
This is the third in the Guide to Sorrento series of films that I have produced. The latest film covers the area near Piazza S Antonino. This includes the Basilica of S Antonino, Foreigners’ Club, the Cloister of S Francesco, Villa Communale Park and Viewing Platform, the Beach of S Francesco and the port of Marina Piccola.
[Previous episodes of Guide to Sorrento: Part 1. Part 2.]
Film Transcript:
A short walk from the main Tasso Square is Piazza S Antonino – St Antonino’s Square. To get there, we head down the road to the right of Bar Ercolano, the one with the palm trees.
BASILICA OF SAINT ANTONINO
If you look to your right as you enter the square you see the Basilica of Saint Antonino. This contains the remains of Sorrento’s patron saint and was built in the 11th century. There are two whale bones at the entrance that are supposed to be the actual bones of the whale from which the saint famously rescued a child.
PIAZZA S ANTONINO
We turn now and look up at the square itself. It’s dominated by the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Grazie. It was built around 1556 in accordance with the will of the Sorrentine noblewoman Bernardina Donnorso
At the centre of the square there’s a delightful garden. In the garden, as is befitting for a square named after Sorrento’s Patron Saint, there is a statue of St Antonino Abbate.
Another statue of the saint is situated in Tasso Square.
FOREIGNERS’ CLUB
We now move off the square down this street. Our next stop is on the right near the blue and white signs. A bit off the beaten track and therefore easy to miss is Foreigners’ Club. This is also the site of the Tourist Information Office. The desk is just inside the entrance, to the right. There are also some free public toilets in this building.
To get to Foreigners’ Club itself, once inside this building, you veer off to the left, walking past the bar and onto the terrace. I understand that the place got its name because it was the site of a bar set up by allied soldiers during World War II.
The restaurant provides magnificent views of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. Even though there’s quite a broad menu, I tend to have a pizza when I come here because I think they’re the best in town.
When you come out of Foreigners club, turn left. Then turn right when you reach St Antonio Square. This leads to quite a few places of interest including: the Cloiser of S Francesco, the Villa Communale Park and its viewing platform, the beach of S Frecesco, and Marina Piccola.
CLOISTER OF S FRANCESCO
First we go under the arch near the railings. This leads to the Cloister of San Francesco, which formed part of a Monastery. This dates back to the 14th century. The courtyard is enclosed by a portico formed by Gothic arches.
This is a popular location for holding weddings and you’ll frequently see a wedding party congregating outside as they wait for a ceremony to take place. Outside, you may also see wedding photos being taken that use the Bay of Naples as an unforgettable backdrop.
VILLA COMMUNALE PARK & VIEWING PLATFORM
We now enter the picturesque Villa Communale Park which contains a rather beautiful gardern.
The viewing platform provides magnificent views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It’s particularly atmospheric near dusk when the sun is beginning to set.
The view gives you a good impression of the geography of the Bay of Naples. Since the view incorporates Vesuvius, your mind naturally goes back to what you would have seen from this spot back in AD 79, when the eruptions that caused the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum were taking place.
Over there on the other side of the bay was the Roman naval base of Misenum. It was there where Pliny the Elder was stationed as the commander of the Roman Fleet. It was the testimony of Pliny’s young nephew who gave use the details of the actual eruption. Pliny famously raced across the bay to save a friend trapped at the end of the Sorrentine peninsular at Stabiae. This was close to the current Castellammare di Stabia which is located over there beyond the cliffs. It was near here at Castellammare di Stabia where Pliny became yet another victim of that famous volcanic eruption.
BEACH OF S FRANCESCO
The viewing platform at Villa Communale also allows you to take a look at the beach area S Francesco from above. The clear blue water looks very inviting from up here, especially on hot day. There are plenty of places down there where you can hire deck chairs, sunbeds and parasols at the various lidos.
MARINA PICCOLA
You can also see a bit of the main port of Marina Piccola from the viewing platform. It’s from there that you can buy tickets for trips further afield to places like Capri, Positano and Amalfi. From up here, it’s sometimes quite pleasant to just watch the various boats coming and going from the port as you while away the day.
ELEVATOR
At the edge of the viewing platform you can buy tickets for the lift to get down to sea level. You buy them from the booth, and you’ll need them at the turnstiles at the bottom to get out.
Turn right to walk towards the port of Marina Piccola. As you walk you’ll see the beach areas and lidos that we were previously viewing from above only moments ago.
If you walk a little bit further you reach Marina Piccola which has its share of restaurants, bars and shops as well as an area to get your boat tickets.
If you got a return ticket, to get back into Sorrento, simply retrace your steps and get the lift back up to the viewing platform.
That concludes our exploration of the area around St Antonino Square.
Sorrento: Exploring The Area Around Corso Italia, Incorporating Marina Grande & The Old Town
You can find Part 1 HERE.
Film Transcript:
CORSO ITALIA
Corso Italia is Sorrento’s main street. It runs right through Tasso Square, but I think that the most interesting part is at the western side of the square. The western side is the side you can see now up ahead. We’re looking at it from this angle so you know its position in relation to Tasso Square. However, we’re going to explore the street from the far end and work our way back to the square.
Here we are at the far end right next to Sorrento’s hospital. The first place we come to is the Piazza Andrea Veniero. This square often contains market stalls where you can buy souvenirs.
ROUTE TO MARINA GRANDE VIA THE CHURCH OF ANNUNCIATION
There’s a route down to the beach at Marina Grande that you can take from this square. The route to Marina Grande involves turning left at the beginning of the square and then turning left again at the back of the square. On the left we walk past the Church of Annunciation which is thought to be built on the site of and ancient temple to the goddess Cybele.
The journey to the beach involves navigating some of Sorrento’s ancient narrow backstreets. Part way down you come to a viewing platform where you can get you first proper glimpse of the fishing village of Marina Grande.
THE GREEK GATE
We enter Marina Grande through the Greek Gate which was built in the fourth century BC after this part of Italy had been colonised by the Ancient Greeks. We are greeted by a view of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius.
MARINA GRANDE
Here’s a view of Marina Grande as you got down the steps to the harbour area. There’s an attractive collection of pastel coloured buildings around the harbour and you can see hotels built into the cliffs up above.
There are places where you can hire boats and book trips at Marina Grande. Here you can see one boat on its way out. As you can see there are quite a few small pleasure boats moored in the harbour. Some of them are quite colourful.
Here you can see fishermen mending their nets. You can also see boats from the fishing fleet together with some of their fishing equipment.
Going hand in hand with the catching of fish are the local selection of fish restaurants. The distance between sea and table is a short one and this should ensure a good selection of very fresh seafood. As you can see there are quite a range of places where you can eat.
This one that I went to is called Taverna Azzurra and like most of them is right next to the beech. Here is some of the food that we had while eating there.
We’ll now take a look at the small beach. There are plenty of places where you can rent sunbeds and parasols. If you get on the front row you can sit while the water laps up against your feet. Its also a nice place for bathing, though it can be a bit pebbly in places. You can be joined at the waterside by they local bird life. As you can see from the flag fluttering in the breeze above the beech, this is a blue flag beach.
If you look down the coast from Marina Grande you can see how Sorrento is built above quite tall cliffs. This, of course, enhances the views that you have when looking out to see from Sorrento itself. I’ll conclude this section of the film with the view of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from Marina Grande.
We now continue our journey down Sorrento’s main street – Corso Italia.
CHAPLIN’S IRISH BAR
The next place we’re going to look at is on the left. You can see its distinctive green awning up ahead. This is Chaplin’s Irish Bar. I include this in the film because it is close to where I usually stay and therefore serves as my local pub while I’m in Sorrento.
As you can see here the staff are very warm and friendly. Here, Mario has a joke with my dad about his lack of understanding of the Italian language. Some people come here to watch sporting events and there are numerous TV screens distributed throughout the bar. According this flag, it also serves as the Sorrento Celtic Supporters’ Club.
Since it’s run by Italians, I refer to it as the Irish Bar with an Italian twist. It’s therefore quite a unique place, and it attracts people from around the world, in addition to Ireland, and can have quite a cosmopolitan vibe. It can sometimes get quite noisy with a lot of singing along and sometime people also opt to dance. It can get quite busy and the staff will try to get people seats, so don’t be surprised if you make new friends.
We now move on from Chaplin’s and continue walking on Corso Italia towards Tasso Square.
RISTORANTI PARRUCCIANO FAVORITE
Further up the street on the right we come to a restaurant called Ristoranti Parrucciano Favorite. People might not know that Sorrento was actually the site of a culinary innovation. It was in this restaurant that cannelloni was invented over a century ago and at that time was called strascinata. Up the stairs you can dine in a rather magnificent Mediterranean garden.
THE CITY WALLS
Before we get to the cathedral and bell tower, we reach a street on the right called Via Antonino Sersale, which leads to the city walls. The street begins at this archway. You can see the wall at the arch up ahead. Next to the wall on the right you can see some metal gates. The stairs behind them lead to the Parsano Bastion and part of the wall. The sign on the gates gives the opening times when people can come and visit this feature of Sorrento. The archaeological evidence suggests that Sorrento had walls as long ago as the 4th century BC. However, the current walls date back to the 16th century. They were built during the period of Spanish rule to defend againt Saracen pirates who raided various parts of the Italian peninsular. Near the middle of this stretch of wall, behind a gate, you can see some old steps that go up to the top of the wall. Looking back up towards the wall you can see how houses were subsequently built into it in more recent times.
We now return to the Corso Italia to continue our route towards Tasso Square.
THE CATHEDRAL AND BELL TOWER
The red and yellow coloured tower up ahead is an important Sorrento landmark – this is the bell tower of Sorrento Cathedral. We see the cathedral on our right just before we reach the tower. Here’s the tower from a different angle. The columns beside the tower’s archway date back to ancient times. The archway under the bell tower links Corso Italia to Via Santa Maria della Pieta. The space beneath the tower was used as a meeting place during the Middle Ages. The lower part of the tower structure dates back to the 11th century and the upper the 15th.
THE OLD TOWN
If you look back across Corso Italia from under the Bell Tower you are looking straight down a street called Largo Padre Reginaldo Giuliani. This is one of the streets leading off Corso Italia into the historic centre or old town of Sorrento. To many, this part of town is known affectionately as the drains, though others don’t like this term.
The next bit of footage starts at the opposite end of this street. Here we are at the bottom of the hill heading in the direction of the cathedral. In this area there a quite a few restaurants with waiters trying to persuade you into their particular establishment. Up ahead you can hear the bells of the cathedral ringing out.
There are plenty of shops in the old town where you can buy souvenirs for friends and relatives back home. One thing there is certainly a lot of in Sorrento is limoncello. There are lots of nooks and crannies in the medieval streets of the maze like old town. There are of course the usual shops selling Sorrento calendars to remind you of your holiday and Sorrento postcards to send to people at home. In some ways the old town of Sorrento puts me in mind of the souks of North Africa and the Middle East or of the bazaars of the Arabian Nights.
THE CHRISTMAS SHOP
There’s a noteworthy shop down one of the alleyways of the old town. That is the Christmas Shop. You might be on your summer holidays but in here you can buy Christmas decorations to remind you of Sorrento in the midst of winter. You can get some interesting decorations that you certainly would not be able to obtain in the shops back home. Some of these are specific to Sorrento such as those shaped like lemons or those with Sorrentine landscapes painted on them. They are all sold with Christmas music playing on merrily in the background.
We now head back out of the rabbit warran of the old town to Corso Italia.
LA PASSEGGIATA
As we re-enter Corso Italia I would like to say a few words about the Italian custom of La Passeggiata. In Italy as the sun begins to go down, people engage in a social event known as La Passeggiata. This is when Italians dress up and embark on a slow promenade in a town’s main street or central piazza. It is a time to see and be seen. You will often see this on the Corso Italia with smartly dressed groups slowly walking and talking. However, in Sorrento it may be difficult to distinguish between this and the many wedding groups that also walk through Sorrento’s streets.
Up ahead, on the far side of Tasso Square, we can see the yellow coloured Church of Antuario Della Maddona Del Carmine. This concludes of our exploration of Corso Italia at the Western end of Tasso Square.
Walton – A Year in Review 2019
First posted at Waterton’s Walton.
The following is a film providing coverage of the various events that took place in Waterton’s Walton during the year 2019:
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Film Transcript:
Since I’ve been doing various films in and around Walton this year, I thought I’d use some of the footage to create ‘Year in Review’.
I’ve referred to the village as ‘Waterton’s Walton’ to distinguish it from the many other places with the same name in various parts of the country. This of course is a reference to a person who is probably Walton’s most famous past inhabitant, the naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton. It was here in Walton where he created the world’s first nature reserve.
NATIONAL VINTAGE TRACTOR ROAD RUN
The first event was the National Vintage Tractor Road Run that passed through Walton on Easter Sunday which, this year, fell on 21st April. About 500 tractors from around the country took part. They started their journey near the water tower in Ackworth. The proceeds raised by the event went to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Here’s the footage of some of the tractors as they passed by Priory Square and Walton House.
WALTON COLLIERY DISASTER MEMORIAL EVENT
On Friday 26th April the Walton Colliery Disaster Memorial Event took place in Walton Club.
It was organised by Norman Parkinson of the HOW Project to commemorate 60th anniversary of the mining disaster that occurred on 22nd April 1959. At the event a short film about the pit was shown. There were also poetry readings, and an address by the Mayor of Wakefield. Also, singer-songwriter Ali Bullivent sang her song about the pit that was called ‘Butterflies’. The next clip shows her singing this song at the event.
MORRIS DANCING – PERFORMANCE BY THE GREEN OAK MORRIS MEN
On Wednesday 5th June a quintessentially English event took place outside the New Inn – Morris Dancing. This was a performance by the Green Oak Morris men.
WALTON HALL
On Saturday 29 June I was present at Walton Hall for a family rather than a village event. Because of the importance of Walton Hall to the history of Walton, I wanted to include some footage of the hall and its grounds in this film. Walton Hall of course, was the home of Charles Waterton who I mentioned at the very beginning of this film. The hall is built on its own island and here is its front entrance. Above the door you can see a carving of the Waterton family crest.
WALTON CLASSIC CAR SHOW
The Walton Classic Car Show was the next event, and this took place on the field at Walton Club on Sunday 21 July. There was a wide variety of classic cars on display. The following footage gives a reasonable overview.
SCARECROW FESTIVAL
On the weekend of Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September the village had its annual scarecrow festival. I guess this could be described as a modern take on the traditional harvest festival. There were a wide range of scarecrows scattered across the length and breadth of the village. The occasion was a good excuse to walk around the village in its entirety and to see parts that you don’t see very often.
The intention of the footage was to show the village itself, as much as the scarecrows, to show what it was like in the early 21st century.
Hopefully a reasonable selection of the scarecrows are included in the following footage, but a large number of very good ones have been missed. Some of the scarecrow names I made up myself.
WALTON COLLIERY MEMORIAL WHEEL
An important event for the history of Walton took place at the Walton Colliery Nature Reserve on Saturday 19th October. This was the unveiling and dedication of the Walton Colliery Memorial Wheel. The wheel was donated by Norman Parkinson and filled what many ex miners in the village regarded as a historical omission on the site. The event was attended by the Mayor of Wakefield and some excellent brass band music was performed by the Crofton Silver Band.
WALTON CLUB BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS
Friday 1st November saw the Walton Club Bonfire and Fireworks. This was brought forward event for the traditional Guy Fawkes Night festivities that go back to the Gunpowder Plot incident of the early 17th century. The fire took a bit of getting going because of the recent heavy rain, but it did get going and was accompanied by an excellent fireworks display.
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
On 10th November the people of Walton remembered those who died for the country’s freedom in the two world wars of the 20th century. This year, the event was very well attended, and numbers present equalled the numbers who used to attend when the old veterans used to parade through the village to the memorial with a brass band.
SWITCHING ON OF WALTON CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
The final event of 2019 was the switching on of Walton’s Christmas lights. The Crofton Silver Band were present to provide an excellent backdrop of brass band Christmas music.
***UPDATE/CORRECTION: The switching on of the Christmas lights took place on Sunday 1 December rather than the November date erroneously added to the introductory screen to that section of the film.***
cjknowles1972 