From Amalfi to Pogerola along the Via Maestra dei Villaggi
Duration: 6,5 km
Travel time: 4h 30 ‘
Path – Difference in altitude just under 300 m, easy to walk.
Logistics – Departure and arrival from Amalfi (recommended arriving by public transport). To overcome parking difficulties, the beginning and the end can take place in Pogerola.
Services and Refreshments – Bars and restaurants both in Amalfi and in Pogerola.
The Via Maestra dei Villaggi once connected Amalfi to its western hamlets, reaching as far as Tovere. The route winds through cultivated terraces and the villages of Pastena and Lone, along a stretch of the Via and then turns towards the hamlet of Pogerola.
Departure from the Cathedral square of Amalfi. Turning your back to the steps of the cathedral, take the underpass in front that leads to Piazza dei Dogi, and continue, at the end of the square, along the steps of San Nicola dei Greci which leads to via Annunziatella. You pass the access to the church of San Biagio and, after 300 meters, the road rejoins the coastal road, near a gallery at the foot of the Hotel Convento (former Hotel Cappuccini) .The monastery was founded in 1212 where the ancient church of San Pietro “a Toczolo”, prior to the 10th century.
To the left of the gallery, follow the promenade dedicated to the American poet Henry Longfellow who immortalized the city with his lyric “Amalfi” (1875). At the end of the walk, cross the coastal road, to take the slope on the right. Follow the road for about 200 meters where you will find a small chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine which houses, on the wall of the underpass, a fresco depicting the FugainEgitto. Continuing, after about 900 meters you will arrive at a viewpoint called “” A Ponta ‘e Lone “which offers a sheer view of the coast and the beach below. To the right, a ladder leads to the church of Santa Maria Vergine. From the churchyard other stairs lead to the road to Pogerola where you resume climbing following the stairs in front, which lead to an open space surrounded by some houses. From here there are three routes: continue taking the central one. After a short uphill stretch the road returns to being flat and after 200 meters, on the right, follow the stairs of Salita Pastena downhill to the church of Santa Maria Assunta.
To the right of the church, take via Montetillo and follow it for about 600 m. After three detours (the first two on the right and the second on the left, in the direction of the hotel above) you will find the junction between via dello Spinale (which descends to the right), and via Pietralata, to the left, to be followed to climb towards the hamlet of Pogerola.
After 400 meters, on the left there are terraced buildings at the end of which you go up towards the road using a staircase that goes up to the left. Reached the road, continue slightly uphill towards the main square of the hamlet with the sixteenth-century church dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie. To the left of the church some steps lead to a “cooler” variant in the summer: the descent towards Amalfi, which is part of route no. 14. On the right, instead, take the stairs that lead to a pedestrian path that leads to the church of Santa Marina. After the church, a short stairway to the left leads to a rolling stock to be followed downhill for about seventy meters to take other stairs to the right. After the last houses, a long staircase with a level jump of about 150 meters takes you back to the coastal road; the most suggestive part of the walk.
The staircase is almost always followed in the direction of the sea seen from above. At the end, near the tunnel, we arrive at the entrance to the Longfellow promenade.
