Passing through the Convent of San Nicola, the Sambuco valley and visit of the Roman villa.
Durata: 10,7 km
Travel time: 4h30 ‘
Route – Excluding the short initial stretch, which exceeds a difference in height of over 200 meters, the difficulty is comparable to little more than a walk.
Logistics – Departure and arrival coincide. It is enough to arrive in Maiori, reachable by car, bus or between the ghetto.
Services and Refreshments – Bars and restaurants in Maiori and Minori.
Notes – The villa can be visited every day from 9:00 am until one hour before sunset, every public holiday except May 1st, December 25th and January 1st.
The shape of the route allows you to start from both Maiori and Minori. We suggest choosing Maiori as the starting point as it is easier to park here and allows you to visit the Roman Villa of Minori on the way back. Starting from the seafront, go up Corso Regina for about 300 meters up to Piazza Raffaele D’Amato . The staircase on the left leads to the terrace in front of the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria a Mare. If the church is open, it is worth taking a look inside: a coffered ceiling, statues and canvases from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, an organ by master Zeno Fedeli da Foligno, the statue of Santa Maria a Mare dating back to the thirteenth century on the the main altar and, for the more interested, the Sacred Museum. Leaving the church, take the staircase on the left, via Vena. After 700 meters you reach a crossroads where you turn right to go up the crest line of the hill.
Going up the easy steps, you can see the Monastery of San Nicola a Forcelle at the top. After a kilometer and a half, leaving the convent at the top right, you come to a crossroads, at a saddle. Turn right and in a few minutes you will reach the convent with a panoramic terrace in front. Left the convent. go back to the crossroads and continue to the right. A few minutes and you reach the next crossroads where, near a ruin, you turn left. A wider path leads to the interior of the valley, crosses a stream and ends in the hamlet of Sambuco. Here, resume the road coming from Ravello and go up it for about 400 meters, up to a deviation on the left – near a house – which leads to the path which, parallel to the course of the river, runs through the valley up to Minori.
Before reaching the town, you pass near the remains of two large abandoned paper mills, after which you return to the asphalted road that leads to the center of the Minori.
Having been careful not to leave too late (by 10:00 at the latest), there is time for a short visit to the Roman Villa. Leaving the villa, you reach the seafront and continue to the left until the clearing in front of the Basilica of Santa Trofimena. Inside: 16th century paintings, and 18th and 19th century canvases, including a Crucifixion from the workshop of Marco Pino da Siena. Leaving the church, continue passing under the bell tower and, after 200 meters, take a staircase that climbs to the right. On the left at the top, the bell tower of the Annunziata, dating back to the 12th century, is evident. At the next crossroads, after a fountain, go right again, through the locality of Torre. After passing the Church of San Michele, after 300 meters, at the crossroads, turn right, where you will find via Vena which leads to the church of Santa Maria a Mare in Maiori.
From the Augustan period, the Roman maritime villa is structured on two floors, for a total area of about 2,500 square meters; it is thought that it had even larger dimensions, articulated in terraces sloping down to the sea. On the ground floor, the viridarium, enclosed on three sides by a large porch, has a large swimming pool, whose plumbing systems are still clearly visible. On the northern side, the housing body, divided into various rooms, has a large triciclinium, decorated with mosaics of the III Pompeian style. In the annex Antiquarium there are amphorae, domestic pottery, sculptures and elements of relics. The villa can be visited every day from 9:00 am until one hour before sunset, every public holiday except May 1st, December 25th and January 1st.
