6. Tramonti: Path of The 13 Churches Tour with Local Guide
One does not know a place if one does not understand its history and its true soul. Those who love to travel, in the true sense of the word, that is, discovering the secrets of the place they visit, cannot miss an excursion into Amalfi's history. This is the Sentiero delle 13 Chiese (Path of the 13 Churches), a route that winds through the villages of Tramonti, one of Amalfi's pearls. When one thinks of the Amalfi Coast, villages such as Maiori, Minori and Atrani immediately come to mind in addition to the town of Amalfi. However, going a little further inland, without straying too far from the crystal-clear waters of the coast, one finds some real pearls of this area, little known to mass tourism. These certainly include Tramonti, known for having given its name to the Tramontana wind. The people of Amalfi, in fact, used to call the wind that blew from this area this name. The particularity of Tramonti is linked to its territorial organisation. Unlike many historical urban centres, composed of a village surrounded by many small hamlets, Tramonti was organised into thirteen hamlets arranged in a circular fashion around Colle Santa Maria. Each village had its own church, square and fountain. Today, the 13 churches in these hamlets are intact and offer the opportunity to learn about the evocative history of these areas. Since the villages are arranged in a circular fashion, there is no particular order in which to start the trail. However, since the village of Pucara is the one closest to Maiori, and therefore also the one best connected by public transport, it would be best to start from there, and then proceed to discover the other twelve villages and the other twelve churches. The path that unites them and allows one to visit Tramonti is called, precisely, Sentiero delle 13 Chiese (Path of the 13 Churches). It is a path recognised by the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) and has an average difficulty level. The meeting is at 10 a.m. at the Campinola crossroads and departure for the Path, which will allow you to visit part of the Tramonti territory. The 13 Churches Trail crosses part of the 13 villages and allows visitors to visit ancient churches of medieval origin. We will start from the Borgo di Campinola and end our visit at the Borgo di Paterno Sant'Elia. At the end of a beautiful route surrounded by nature, there will be a tasting of typical products. Length: 6 km Duration: 3 hours