Another less known legend from around 1300 BC is the one of Orpheus, a singer of the Greek mythology, accompanying the Argonauts while sailing along the coast. While the Argonauts where tempted by the sirens’ song, Orpheus just outsang the sirens and thus dispelled their powers, which brought them to throw themselves into the water and be transformed into the three small islands on the coast. But the original sirens were not like we imagine them today, a beautiful woman with a fish tail. Back in the days, sirens had the body of a bird and the head of a beautiful woman (or sometimes, the other way round). This also explains the name of the islands, which is Li Galli (The Roosters).

ROMAN EPOCHE

Real historic evidence is more difficult to reconstruct due to Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD, destroying everything around, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, that are famous touristic sites today. Various sites of human population have though been confirmed for the time span going from prehistory to roman times.

In Minori, the first populated site at the Amalfi Coast, is still remaining an ancient Villa Romana, built in the 1^st century AD. This and other villas were used by Patricians as vacation houses, while the interior of the region was used for cultivation. Vesuvius’ eruption destroyed not only all the area and led to landslides, covering the Rilla Romana and lots of infrastructure in mud, but its vulcanic deposits sedimenting on the territory also had a good impact on the soil, making it very fertile.

On the other side of the mountains lies Nocera, which originated from Nuceria Alfaterna, a very important ancient city lying in the same agglomeration as Pompeii. It has its origins in the VI century BC, around the same time that Pompeii was built and was a very important commercial city.  In 216 BC, it was plundered by the Carthaginian general Hannibal but was then rebuilt by the emperor Augustus. Only in 42 AD it became part of the Roman colony, though still preserving the Greek language. Later, Neapolitan derived out of a mix of Vulgar Latin and Greek, but it also has some influences from Spanish and French. The

EARLY TRAMONTI

In medieval times, the Amalfi Coast was constructed out of civitates and terrae, cities and lands. Tramonti consisted of 14 dispersed farms – except for one that is today only a ruin, these became today’s 13 districts of the community. Its original name was Transmonti, meaning “between the mountains”. Between 500-550 AD, roman populations were found settling between the Monti Lattari, the forested mountains where Tramonti lies in between. Their name which translates to “Milky Mountains” was given by the Romans due to the milk production like the many cheese varieties coming from the high number of goats and sheep that were held here.

THE REPUBLIC OF AMALFI – ONE OF THE MAJOR ITALIAN MARITIME REPUBLICS OF THE MIDDLE AGE

From the 6^th century, Amalfi became a major seafaring power thanks to its trading with grain, timber, salt and slaves from the interior. The wood came from Tramonti, disposing of a large number of forests. Until then, the area was one of the rare ones whose forests had not been exploited yet. Most of the Mediterranean had already been deforested from the Romans and was probably one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire. After that first big deforestation, another one took place after the Middle Ages, until around 1700 when populations started to realize the unsustainable outcomes resulting from too less forests.

In exchange of their export products, Amalfi’s nobles received gold dinars from Egyptian and Syrian mines, with which it bought the Byzantine empire’s silks that it resold in the West. While most of Italy’s economic system still worked with exchanging goods in the 9^th century, Amalfitans used gold coins. During that time, Tramonti was characterized not only by forests, but also by agriculture, used to cultivate wine (which had been introduced by the Romans), fruits and vegetables.

Later, the coastline became property of the Duchy of Naples, until Amalfi declared its independence in 839. In 1077, it was incorporated in the Norman Kingdom, where it rose to influence and wealth due to its active trade with the Orient. Being a major sea power, Amalfi got into conflict with Pisa, Genoa and other neighbours. Also, its wealth attracted pirates, who the army could rout instantly. After a long series of attacks, it was annexed to the Kingdom of Sicily in 1131, though still retaining a certain autonomy in managing maritime commercial affairs.

LATE MIDDLE AGE – THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TERRACES

While in the medieval times, the fields mainly belonged to clergymen and monks, as well as to the nobility, in the XI century, some farmers could buy vineyards and forests due to commercial relations with Puglia, which rose their financial status.

The transformation to terraced landscapes took place mainly in the 12^th and 13^th century, initiated by monasteries. The Duchy of Amalfi was able to make huge investments in this development. Besides growing various plants, the monasteries also brewed beer and created culinary products like the Neapolitan Sfogliatella, a pastry that is very known today. During that time, the coast still missed accessibility. Until the 1800s, accessibility from one part to another was only possible by mule. Thus, the region’s traditions and products were preserved better than in other zones that were already globalized.

Thanks to its position, Tramonti became an important defensive force throughout the centuries. This did though not suffice to prevent the Pisans’ various attacks. These, together with natural disasters like a tsunami in 1343 as well as epidemics like pest and cholera in the 17^th century, diminished the coastal population and made the area poorer over the centuries.

THE STORY OF THE PIZZA OF TRAMONTI

But Tramonti had also another function: It provided dehydrated bread for the sailors that could be stored for months on the sea and eaten after dipping it into some sea water. For baking it, the oven has to cool down, so to not lose the heat, the bakers prepared a dough consisting of rye, millet and barley flavoured with spices and lard in order to be consumed freshly. This was the origin of today’s pizza. As trades with Napoli began to grow at the end of the 15^th century, their recipes got exported to there. It became very common to make that kind of bread that is today known as pizza, nearly every family had their own oven and prepared it.

So the Pizza became popular and developed, and around 200-300 later, tomatoes were added, especially the Fiascone tomato which was very common at that time, as well as olive oil, garlic, oregano and lard. Sometimes they also added salt and homemade cheese which was similar to mozzarella. Every family had cows back then, which made it easy to make their own cheese. Mozzarella was also one of the main ingredients, together with basil and Re Fiascone tomato, that constituted the world-famous Pizza Margherita dedicated to the Queen of Italy in 1889. In the year 1955, the Tramontain Luigi Giordano exported mozzarella and finally pizza to Northern Italy. His success brought nearly half of the population to follow him and open pizzerias in the North.

But not only the products, also stories about the Amalfi Coast’s beauty started to spread in the north. The economy had been based on farming and on the crafts industry. The unique landscapes, filled with vines, olives, lemon trees and more attracted a lot of young men from the upper class that were travelling through Europe in the time between 1700-1900. Goethe, who came to Italy in the years 1786-1788, wrote about “the land where the lemon-trees blossom”. But Praiano, Positano and Capri as spaces for culture and art also attracted many more poets, artists and musicians. The coast became also a refuge for artists during fascist times and communist Russia. Jewish migrants settled on Capri. But also students and professors came to Italy to learn about medicine, transporting the knowledge to northern Europe. Through their commercial relations with African countries, southern Italy served as a front gate not only to medical, mathematical and philosophical knowledge, but also to inventions like paper and the compass. Culinary products like coffee, sugar and tropical fruits were imported from Arab countries to Italy and from there exported to the North.

GLOBALIZATION AND TOURISM

Thanks to the growing tourism sector, the Amalfi Coast resurrected in the second half of the 19^th century.

In 1997, the territory was declared a UNESCO world heritage site because of its terraced landscape. But not only the UNESCO realized its uniqueness, also tourists did. The Amalfi Coast became a famous and well-visited area, appreciated for its picturesque landscape. By now, tourism is the strongest economic sector on the coast and substituted agriculture as main income. There are many tourists coming to the coast between Spring and Autumn.  

Few people know that the region consists not only of coast, but also of rural areas like Tramonti, where traditions and culture are still very well preserved. Through its activities, ACARBIO promotes the cultural and natural heritage, especially in the upper towns along the valley and the mountains. Our aim is to initiate sustainable touristic activities that are benefiting the families and farmers who are still cultivating this territory. That means inviting people to look further the mainstream coastal attractions and discover the rural area around that still has some preserved landscapes and ancient know-how about the agriculture, as well as lots of beautiful paths to walk while listening to birds singing all day long.

If you want to read more about the history, here are some sources for further information:

http://www.naplesldm.com/amalfi.php

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/amalfi-coast-italy/

What to visit in Tramonti:

https://www.amalficoast.com/l/campania-4/amalfi-coast-1/tramonti-11

Some more history in Italian:

https://www.ecostiera.it/un-piede-nella-barca-e-laltro-nella-vigna-lantico-miracolo-amalfitano/?fbclid=IwAR3rtnJgJR22uJ2MzWQ86oV5BMhvegadxxxS62wygMXQ9vxzae1_oCCfF2E

Books about the Amalfi Coast’s history:

Tramonti la terra operosa – Casali, pievi, uomini e poderi: le matrici della vita rurale in Costa d’Amalfi. Centro di cultura e storia amalfitana, 2008.

Gargano G. La città davanti al mare: aree urbane e storie sommerse di Amalfi nel Medioevo. Centro di cultura e storia Amalfitana, 1992.

Gargano G. La nobiltà aristocratica amalfitana al tempo della Repubblica indipendente (839- 1131). Rassegna del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2005.

D’Antonio N. Campania. Le città del vino. Ci.Vin, 2007.

Séraphine-Noëlle Reeg * studying Tourism and Sustainability at the University of Montpellier, France

The name Tramonti means “(land) between the mountains” in Italian. It is situated in between the green Monti Lattari (“Milky Mountains”), where excellent dairy products like mozzarella and ricotta are made. The name for the mountains was given by the Romans due to the many goats and cows that were bred in the area and brought the milk for these cheese variations. Today, there are no more cows, but still goats and especially sheep. There are though still various cheese dairies in Tramonti and its surroundings.

Situated between the mountains, Tramonti is surrounded by many beautiful pathways, going through the terraced landscapes like vineyards and orchards. When coming to the region, you should try out the very unknown Sentiero delle Formichelle which is situated between Tramonti and Maiori. You can also hike the Monte Finestra, one of the mountains overlooking Tramonti.

View over Tramonti (top) and Minori (bottom) from the Sentiero delle Formichelle

Even though Tramonti is not very known among the Amalfi Coast’s tourists, it has an important history.

The pizza we all know and love today was created in Tramonti. How? To explain this, we have to look a bit further. When during the time of the Duchy of Amalfi, the coast had commercial relations with Arab countries, sailors needed to spend a lot of time on their ships in order to get there to North Africa. The food they could easily transport and keep for a long time was a special kind of bread. This bread, coming from Tramonti’s bakeries, was baked until very dry and could be stored for months. Baked without salt, the sailors just put it into saltwater and could eat it afterwards.

The bakeries, while waiting for the oven to get to the right temperature, tried something out. They made a dough out of rye flour, germanella, millet and barley and seasoned it with spices and lard. This was the base of today’s pizza. Later, they added tomato on top, notably the local variety the Re Fiascone, which became one of the main ingredients, together with mozzarella and basil. The pizza created with these three toppings, representing the Italian tricolore, was dedicated to the Queen of Italy, named Margherita, in 1889.

The above-mentioned tomato variety Re Fiascone was very common for a long time and every family was growing it. The seed that was spread hand by hand disappeared more and more in the 19^th century. It got mixed with other varieties or was replaced with less tasty varieties, but that are also easier to cultivate. Re Fiascone is very sensitive and cannot be transformed with machines, only manually. Thanks to the collaboration with some local farmers, ACARBIO could recover and promote that very tasty tomato variety.

Apart from that, the Amalfi Coast is known for its lemons called “sfusati” – that local variety which also exists in Sicily is very huge, almost like a Pomelo, and a bit sweeter than other lemons. You can even eat its pulp! Many local products are made out of lemons, such as the famous limoncello, but also lemonade and lemon jam. Their peel can even be used to make ecological cleaner or detergent.

The lemons also grow in Tramonti, but more in the lower parts of the community. When getting higher up, you will see more vines, and at the highest points, there are growing mostly chestnut trees.

The vines bring a very special and old wine: The red wine “Tintore di Tramonti” is one of the oldest varieties in Europe. It survived the phylloxera epidemic, which destroyed most of the vines in Europe. At the end of the 19^th century, American vines were imported to Europe for experimental purposes.  Their roots carried an aphid against which the native American roots are resistant. But once the vines were planted into the European soil, they migrated to the European roots, which were not resistant to it. The most devastating effects were experienced in France, but also other European countries like Italy, Spain and Germany lost whole varieties of wine. The solution to save the wine industry was to graft European vines onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks. Even today, this procedure is still used in many wine regions.

So, what about the Tintore di Tramonti? Apparently, phylloxera didn’t like the pH levels of volcanic and some sandy soils, leaving alive the Tramonti vine. A few other places in Italy – in Campania, Calabria and on Mount Etna in Sicily – also still grow pre-phylloxera vines.

All these products grow on terraced landscapes, typical for the region and necessary due to its mountainous terrain. The promotion of the local products helps to maintain the terraced landscapes – for cultural and safety reasons, as well as for preserving biodiversity – and to support local farmers, meaning a sustainable way of agriculture. ACARBIO is focusing on the recovery of the local biodiversity and mainly on endangered species, promoting a sustainable development of the area.

To find out more about the local variety Re Fiascone, you can check our website www.refiascone.it.

In the following video, you can learn more about Tramonti in general, but also about the pizza and the local variety Re Fiascone: https://www.facebook.com/comunetramontisa/videos/621989975337733/

More about the history of Tramonti pizza and how it was exported can be found here: https://www.acarbio.org/en/storia-della-pizza/

If you want to know more about the importance of terraced landscapes, you can read our article about it here: https://www.acarbio.org/en/terraced-landscapes-on-the-amalfi-coast/.

To get more information about the Sentiero delle Formichelle and other things to do and visit on the Amalfi Coast, check out our following post: https://www.acarbio.org/en/things-to-see-in-the-amalfi-coast/

Séraphine-Noëlle Reeg * studying Tourism and Sustainability at the University of Montpellier, France