Monti Lattari Archivi - Charme

A spellbinding view of bays, coves and hills

Sergio Gradogna — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 10:09:44 +0000

It first enchanted the Romans and was long ravaged by Saracen raiders, but the Land of the Sirens is now the second home to royalty, celebrities, industrialists and financiers, not to mention poets, writers and film directors. The Sorrento-Amalfi coast, with its hillsides of olive and citrus groves and lush Mediterranean vegetation descending into small bays, is beautiful from both land and sea. FromCastellammare di Stabiato Vietri sul Mare, the winding Sorrentina-Amalfitana road climbs up onto the cliffs and then down to the coast for about 100 km, offering breathtaking views of Capri, the Gulfs of Naples andSalernoand the densely forested mountainsides.[charme-gallery]

Starting from the Roman town ofStabiae, it heads up to Gragnano, the home of traditional pasta manufacture, and then on to Vico Equense and Seiano, renowned for their chesses, especially provolonedelmonacoand fiordilatte. Along the cliffs past Meta, Piano and Sant’Agnello toSorrento, the birthplace of Torquato Tasso and a favourite location for film director Vittorio De Sica. Around the headland with its magnificent villas immersed in the maquis, past Massa Lubrense to Punta Campanella where the Penisola Sorrentina becomes the Costiera Amalfitana, and the land is suspended between the sea and the sky.[charme-gallery] The picturesque hillsides of Positano and Praiano, the “painted village” of Furore, Conca dei Marini, the old paper mills and villas of Amalfi and Ravello, Minori, Maiori, Cetara and the ceramic museum at Raito: famous places with a heady atmosphere, beautiful views as well as the best in local craftsmanship, luxury hotels and smart guesthouses.

L'articolo A spellbinding view of bays, coves and hills proviene da Charme.

From Agerola to Nocelle, postcards from paradise

Sergio Gradogna — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 09:15:14 +0000

Suspended between history and mythology, a timeless paradise where sky and sea merge together along an enchanting route that culminates in the splendid scenery of Positano. This is the picture postcard offered by the Path of the Gods, a strikingly beautiful strip of land which, according to legend, was used by the Greek gods to rescue Ulysses from the Sirens. A tourist destination for many years now, this famous footpath starts in Bomerano, a district of Agerola, and winds its way, at 650 metres above sea level, to Nocelle, a picturesque village of 300 in habitants which offers a marvellous view of Capri. The footpath has long been a source of artistic inspiration for poets and writer from Goethe to Calvino because Time and Man have done nothing to alter its original beauty. On the Path of the Gods, far from the daily frenzy, you are suspended between sea and sky, immersed in primeval nature, its vegetation, its odours and its colours. Moving between rocks which remain forever impressed on the memory, we recommend you get hold of a good pair of hiking boots and a camera and let the scenery do the rest. [charme-gallery]For the tourists who flock to the Costiera over the Christmas period we suggest starting from Bomerano. The first marvel is the Grotto of the Biscuit, situated at 524 metres above sea level, a striking geological rock formation in which marine fossils have been found. Continuing towards Positano you reach the Serra hills, exactly halfway between Praiano and the peak of Mount Tre Calli. This is an area of terraced fields, wooded stretches and sweeping sea views, where it is still possible to come across a countryman leading his mule, laden with fruit from his orchard. After brief refreshment from the freshwater springs that line the path and an appreciative gaze at the splendid sight of Vettica Maggiore, you approach the village of Nocelle with its delightful views. From here you can reach Positano on foot, negotiating the 1,700 steps. However, before reaching Positano it is worthwhile stopping in Fontana Vecchia di Montepertuso to see the remains of the Giammarino Tower (1528) and an effigy of the Madonna di Santa Maria delle Grazie, who as legend has it, fought an epic battle with the devil, traces of which can still be seen in the mountains behind. The path of the gods is an extraordinarily beautiful corner of the Campania landscape.

L'articolo From Agerola to Nocelle, postcards from paradise proviene da Charme.

Breathtaking views thanks to steel cables

Sergio Gradogna — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:03:43 +0000

The lush, wooded peak of Mount Faito is a spectacular sight, especially when seen from a cable car. So beautiful was this location that King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon decided to build the royal shipyards at the foot of the mountain, whose name comes from its forests of beech trees (fagus in Latin). Villages and houses are dotted over the mountainside all the way up to the peak of Sant’Angelo and the church of San Michele, built on the site of the reputed sighting of the archangel Michael between the 6th and 7th centuries. A bird’s eye view of this splendid location can be enjoyed from the cable cars covering the 3km between the town of Castellammare and Mount Faito (alt. 1060m) in just 8 minutes. The cableway is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its inauguration on 24 August 1952, since which time it has transported thousands of commuters and tourists and provided them with one of the most breathtaking views of the Gulf of Naples. A similar view was available up until a few decades ago from the Mount Vesuvius funicular railway, inaugurated on 6 June 1880 to take visitors up the steep slopes to the crater. Initially steam powered then electrified in 1904, the funicular was operated by the Thomas Cook Group and was accompanied by a wave of enthusiasm that soon spread thanks to the song “Funiculì funiculà”. In 1906 the railway was buried beneath a deep blanket of ash following a terrible volcanic eruption but it was soon working again as one of the world’s favourite tourist destinations. Cited by numerous tour guides, the funicular was in service up until 1944 when the volcano’s fury destroyed it once and for all. In 1947 a company was set up to build a modern chairlift, which opened in 1953 offering visitors images of rare beauty as they ascended the green slopes of the “mountain of fire”.[charme-gallery] Almost 100,000 passengers a year, over half of them from abroad, admired the fumaroles between the hardened lava ridges and valleys and the postcard view of the Gulf, Capri, Punta Campanella and Posillipo. The chairlift, however, was often closed and many operators preferred to use the new road that had been built up to the crater. In 1984 the chairlift was withdrawn, bringing almost 100 years of “Funiculì funiculà” to an end. All attempts by the Regional Government to restore service since 2002 have been in vain. Naples is one of the few cities in the world to have no less than four funicular railways, which connect the city centre with the hillside quarters of Vomero, Chiaja and Posillipo. The most famous is probably the Funicolare Centrale linking Piazzetta Augusteo with Piazza Fuga and known as the “funicular for shopping” as it joins the two most important shopping districts in Naples: Chiaja and the area around Via Scarlatti and Via Luca Giordano. Chiaja also has one of the oldest electric railways in Italy dating from 1889: the Funicolare di Chiaja runs between the residential areas of the Riviera di Chiaja and Vomero (alt. 500m) in 5 minutes with an average slope of 29%. The Funicolare di Montesanto has the same journey time, linking residential Vomero to the Pignasecca quarter’s shops and markets in the very heart of old Naples since 1891. Finally, the Funicolare di Mergellina, perhaps the most famous of the city’s four cableways, links the elegant quarter of Posillipo with the city centre, Via Caracciolo and the tourist harbour of Mergellina, passing through the private gardens of Neapolitan VIP’s and offering fantastic views. Naples used to have a fifth cableway between Posilippo and the Mostra d’Oltremare exhibition centre in Fuorigrotta. Inaugurated on 9 May 1940, it had two cable cars transporting up to 20 people in 8 minutes but it was withdrawn from service in 1961 when the construction of skyscrapers in the area made it too dangerous. The Mount Solaro chairlift on Capri has had a happier fate, and if the emperor Tiberius had had the benefit of this form of transportation, he wouldn’t have built his majestic palace on the other side of the Azure Isle. From the Anacapri station near the central Piazza Vittoria, 156 chairs take passengers to the island’s highest peak in 12 minutes where they can enjoy the ecstatic view of the Gulf from the cloud-topped Mount Solaro. [charme-gallery]Capri also has an electric funicular railway, which passes through lemon groves to link Marina Grande harbour with the centre of the island in 5 minutes. Built in 1907, passengers landing in the harbour can reach the station in Piazzetta Angelo Ferraro and disembark near the famous ‘Piazzetta’ frequented by the world’s jet set and capture the spectacular views on camera. A similar experience can be enjoyed on the other beautiful island in the Gulf of Naples: Ischia. The Funicolare del Castiglione is a private service operating in a spa complex, whose single car can transport up to 18 clients from the car park to the pools. However, until the 1970s the Green Isle had an important cableway operating between the harbour and the Montagnone belvedere, with open two-person compartments used mainly by tourists. Sadly, the cableway is no longer in service but it was frequently used as a location in films in the 1960s, such as “Vacanze a Ischia” set in the area where, over 2000 years ago, Greek settlers built the first houses of what was to become Magna Graecia.

L'articolo Breathtaking views thanks to steel cables proviene da Charme.

White gold from the Lattari mines

Sergio Gradogna — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:09:58 +0000

Pasta is synonymous with tasty Mediterranean cuisine and is inextricably linked to the town of Gragnano in the Lattari mountains. The late 16^th century saw the first family-run pasta workshops open here and by the mid 17^th century the majority of the town’s inhabitants were involved in maccaroni manufacture because the warm, moist wind blowing down to the Bay of Naples, allows the pasta to dry slowly here ensuring a longer storage life. Gragnano enjoyed its heyday in the 19^th century with the opening of large pasta factories, whose specialities were hung out to dry in the streets, as can be seen in famous period photographs of Via Roma. Production doubled following the unification of Italy in 1861 because Gragnano pasta was now exported to Turin, Florence and Milan and sales reached their peak at the turn of the century. In the 20^th century, the industry was modernised but Gragnano’s production was hit by the outbreak of world war II, competition from northern Italian manufacturers, and finally the 1980 earthquake. Only 8 factories then remained but numerous small businesses flourished, ready to face the challenge of the new Millennium. Despite its troubled past, Gragnano continues to be “pasta town” and manufacturers aim at the high end of the market with the best durum wheat, bronze dies which enable a slow, low-pressure process, and a slow, natural drying process to conserve the wheat’s flavour and nutritional properties. Tourists now come to Gragnano from all over the world for the town’s special gourmet itineraries and its pasta is safeguarded by a consortium which promotes its qualities and organises a yearly festival evoking times when the streets were full of spaghetti hanging out to dry.[charme-gallery] Pasta comes in many different shapes: maccheroni, tofette, rigatoni, paccheri and mezzi paccheri – Gragnano’s most famous speciality – fusilli, pennette, tortiglioni and mezzanielli, to name only the best known varieties from the Lattari mountains. And each region of Italy has its own favourite as some shapes are better suited to certain sauces. For instance, trofie and linguine are ideal for pesto alla Genovese while short mixed Gragnano pasta seems made for pasta and potato soup and bucatini go perfectly with amatriciana sauce Pennette, ziti, calamari, fusilloni, mezze righe, maccheroncelli and spaghetti are other shapes made by the pasta masters of Gragnano for the local population as dried pasta is a key feature of Neapolitan cuisine and traditional stories abound on their origins: mafaldine were created in honour of Mafalda of Savoy, tripolini were dedicated to colonial Italy’s conquest of the Libyan capital and piedigrotta pasta is said to be named after the Neapolitan festival. Legends also surround pasta sauces, like the typically Neapolitan (apart from the name) Genovese sauce which was said to have first been made in the 15^th century by chefs from Genoa staying at an inn in Naples. Gragnano boasts hundreds of pasta recipes, as do other towns throughout Italy: hot or cold, with vegetables, meat or fish, ‘dry’ or in soup, simple or lavish, traditional or creative; but the key ingredient is the pasta which must be prepared by following the traditional recipe to the letter. So, buon appetito!

L'articolo White gold from the Lattari mines proviene da Charme.

Macaroni dried on the sea breeze

Sergio Gradogna — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:43:46 +0000

What is it that makes pasta from Gragnano the pasta? Some claim it is the texture of the macaroni which, served with just a little extra virgin olive oil, was described as “heavenly” by the world’s greatest chefs Nobu and Tetsuya Wakuda. It was in the 17^th century that pasta making became a major industry in Gragnano, a small town nestling on the hillsides of the Lattari Mountains in the Sorrento Peninsula, where the breeze contains the prefect combination of moisture and minerals from the sea and aromas from the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. In this way the pasta can dry slowly, a miraculous process which transforms durum wheat flour and water into exquisite paccheri and linguine to tantalise the taste buds. [charme-gallery]Although the 1980s crisis forced many factories to close, Gragnano is still home to high quality pasta making, achieved with the same traditional processes but using state of the art technology. Gragnano pasta is always al dente, but care is needed when cooking. Use 10 litres of water in a copper or aluminium pan per kilo of pasta, add salt when the water boils and carefully pour in the pasta, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Whether you prefer penne, fusilli, paccheri or spaghetti, the main thing is that the pasta is made in Gragnano.[charme-gallery]

L'articolo Macaroni dried on the sea breeze proviene da Charme.