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On the enchanting Amalfi coast, 350 metres above sea level, lies Ravello. Ravello is known as the city of music, La Città della Musica, because every year at the beginning of July the town plays host to a classical music festival here in honour of Wagner. The orchestra pit faces out towards the bay, so the audience has an amazing view.
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Interesting sights in Ravello include Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, and not least their gardens. Villa Rufolo was built at the end of the 13th century by the wealthy Rufolo family, whose riches and reputation earned them a place in Boccaccio’s Decameron. In 1851 the villa was bought by the Scottish botanist Sir Neville Reid, who restored it and replanted the gardens with exotic plants. It was in this very garden that Wagner, visiting Ravello in 1880, found inspiration for Klingsor’s garden in the opera Parzival. Today Villa Rufolo belongs to the tourist board of the province of Salerno and is used as a cultural centre.
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Villa Cimbrone is a newer villa from the 19th century. It was built by an English nobleman who fell in love with the place and the view. Villa Cimbrone is best known for its ”never ending terrace”, La Terrazza dell’Infinito, from where you have a stunning view of the bay. The villa also has wonderful gardens with a tea pavilion, cloister, Bacchus temple and other interesting features and is most certainly worth a visit.
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In the heart of Ravello you find the cathedral, which was founded in 1086 to honour the patron saint, San Pantaleone, whose solidified blood, which is preserved in the church, becomes miraculously fluid once a year on 26th July.
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The Amalfi coast is renowned for its coral, and recently a coral museum was opened in Ravello, which includes coral works, mother of pearl jewellery, and cameos from Roman times to the 19th century.
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