Village
Ravello
Amalfi Coast · Campania
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Village
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Amalfi Coast · Campania
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Ravello is the village on the hill 365 metres above Amalfi, the quietest and most elevated of the coast’s main towns, and the one with the most celebrated view. Its two great gardens — Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo — give the broadest panoramas of the coast, and the Terrace of Infinity at Villa Cimbrone, a marble balcony over the sea, is the most famous viewpoint on the Amalfi Coast. Wagner stayed at Villa Rufolo and based the magic garden of Parsifal on it, and the Ravello Festival is held in its garden each summer. Ravello is the natural escape from the heat and the crowds of the coast below.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Ravello was founded in the 6th century by refugees from the fall of the Amalfi Republic, and it became a wealthy town in its own right in the Middle Ages, with a population of some 35,000 at its peak. The Villa Rufolo was built by the Rufolo family in the 13th century, and Richard Wagner stayed there in 1880 and was so struck by the garden that he used it as the model for the magic garden of Klingsor in Parsifal. Villa Cimbrone was rebuilt in the early 20th century by the English lord Ernest William Beckett, who created the Terrace of Infinity and the gardens that are now the most celebrated on the coast. The Ravello Festival, founded in 1953 in honour of Wagner, is held in the garden of Villa Rufolo each summer.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The Terrace of Infinity — the marble balcony at Villa Cimbrone, the most celebrated view on the Amalfi Coast.
Villa Cimbrone and its gardens — the early-20th-century gardens with their statues, the rose garden and the view.
Villa Rufolo and its gardens — the 13th-century villa where Wagner stayed, with the garden that inspired Parsifal and the stage of the Ravello Festival.
The cathedral of San Pantaleone — the cathedral with its bronze doors and the relic of the saint’s blood.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Ravello is the village that gives the Amalfi Coast its broadest view and its most celebrated garden, and the one that most clearly shows why the coast drew the Romantics and the 20th-century travellers. For a visitor, the Terrace of Infinity is the single most representative viewpoint of the coast, and the gardens are the most peaceful sights on it.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Ravello
Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Campania, Italy
40.6486, 14.6117
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Amalfi Coast
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THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Da Adolfo — a beach restaurant at Laurito reachable by boat from Positano, for grilled fish and the sunbeds
La Caravella — a historic Michelin-starred restaurant in Amalfi, for refined Amalfitan cooking
Rossellini’s — the restaurant of the Palazzo Avitorea in Ravello, for the terrace and the cooking
Casa e Bottega — a farm-to-table restaurant above Positano, for seasonal cooking and the view
Da Maria — a simple trattoria in Amalfi for honest Amalfitan dishes and the lemon menu
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Le Sirenuse — the celebrated hotel in Positano, a former 18th-century palace, the most famous on the coast
Hotel Santa Caterina — a grand hotel above Amalfi with a sea-water pool and a private beach
Palazzo Murat — a boutique hotel in an 18th-century palace in the heart of Positano
Hotel Villa Cimbrone — a hotel in the gardens of Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, with the Terrace of Infinity
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