Positano Holidays

Positano is situated in the Campania region of Italy, on the Amalfi Coast. Once a wealthy maritime power, it began the last century as a fishing settlement, and ended it as a popular, and rather chi-chi resort, famous for its hotels and boutiques as well as for the winding stairways that connect the town, and the towering cliffs above. Every inch of land is prized; buildings are stacked up one above the other on the steep slopes, and open areas are intensively cultivated with fruit and vegetables thriving in the fertile volcanic soil.

Positano was once part of the powerful Republic of Amalfi, and played its part in international trading despite the lack of a harbour. Surviving Saracen raids, the town thrived and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was famous for its trading with the East. Impressive palazzi were built; several are now romantically crumbling, others have been converted into luxury hotels. With the onset of the industrial revolution, harbourless Positano could not compete with rival ports, and had to wait until the birth of the tourist industry to regain its wealthy status.