Sant’Agnello

 Popular resort just a short walk from Sorrento

The small resort of Sant’Agnello, just outside Sorrento in the direction of Naples, is very popular with visitors. Many holidaymakers like to base themselves there and visit Sorrento during the day, returning to its peaceful atmosphere in the evenings.

You can reach Sant’Agnello from Sorrento by walking along Corso Italia, passing Piazza Lauro and Viale Nizza, until you reach Piazza Sant’Agnello. You will see the yellow-painted façade of the Chiesa Santi Prisco ed Agnello, dedicated to San Prisco, a fifth century bishop from Nocera in Campania, and Sant’Agnello, a sixth century monk from Naples, who is now the patron saint of the town.

Church dedicated to Sant'Agnello's patron saint

You can also reach Sant’Agnello by leaving Sorrento along Via Correale, passing the Museo Correale di Terranova, and turning right along Via Aniello Califano. You pass the Church of Santa Maria della Rotonda and then join Via Bernardino Rota. After you pass the Grand Hotel Cocumella you can descend to the beach of Marinella, where you can hire sun loungers and enjoy the beautiful view over the bay of Naples.

Sant’Agnello was made famous by the American novelist, Francis Marion Crawford, who was born in 1854 in Bagni di Lucca in Tuscany.

A prolific novelist, Crawford became known for the vividness of his characterisations and the realism of his settings, many of which were places he had visited in Italy.

He chose to settle in later life in Sant’Agnello, where he even had a street named after him, Corso Marion Crawford, which is another way to get down to the sea from Corso Italia.

In 1883 Crawford lived at the Hotel Cocumella in Sant’Agnello, the oldest hotel in the Sorrento area. He then bought a farmhouse nearby, from which he developed the Villa Crawford, an impressive clifftop residence that is easily identifiable from the sea.

Crawford died at the Villa Crawford after suffering a heart attack in 1909. The villa, which was donated to a religious order by his descendants, has since been refurbished as a guesthouse.

The Hotel Cocumella, where Crawford stayed during the 1880s, is in Via Cocumella, just off Corso Marion Crawford. Over the centuries it has welcomed writers such as Goethe, Mary Shelley and Hans Christian Anderson, along with many artists, statesmen and noblemen who visited it while they were on the Grand Tour.

The aromatic lemons of Sorrento

 Visit a genuine 'agruminato' in centre of resort

Lemon products are everywhere to be seen in Sorrento, from perfumes, soaps and candles to sweets, biscuits and the resort’s famous lemon liqueur, Limoncello.

Sorrento is famous throughout the world for the quality of the lemons produced in the town and along its peninsula, which are large, oval in shape and have a distinctive perfume. They are known to have been cultivated in the area since Roman times.

Lemons growing in Sorrento

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Sorrento for a while, you can visit a genuine agruminato, lemon grove, near the centre of the resort and enjoy some quiet time.

I giardini di Cataldo in Via Correale is a citrus garden typical of the Sorrento peninsula. Once part of a much bigger agricultural estate, the 11000 square metre lemon grove was rescued by the municipality of Sorrento at the beginning of the 21st century. The land was saved from development and it remains a working citrus garden, while being open to the public to visit.

Staff from I giardini di Cataldo look after the land, pick the fruits from the citrus tees and produce liqueurs, marmalades and sweets from them.

You can stroll under the pergolas of chestnut wood poles, enjoy the smell of the lemons and see how they are cultivated.

Limoncello on sale in a Sorrento shop

Limoncello, which is made from an infusion of lemon peel and alcohol, is now produced in other parts of Italy as well, but connoisseurs consider the best limoncello to be made from lemons grown in Sorrento and out along the peninsula. Capri’s lemon groves are well regarded too.

Limoncello should be served very cold and is usually enjoyed after a good meal. Salute!

I Giardini di Cataldo are at Via Correale, 27 in Sorrento. For more information, visit www.igiardinidicataldo.it.

Il Pozzo Ristorante Sorrento

 Restaurant has served Sorrentine specialities since 1967

In the heart of the historic centre of Sorrento, this excellent restaurant, Il Pozzo, has been serving typical Sorrento dishes to locals and visitors for more than 50 years.

Il Pozzo is on the corner of Via Tasso

Il Pozzo is in Via Tasso, which is a turning off Corso Italia opposite the Duomo. The restaurant at number 32 serves all the popular, local specialities, using the freshest possible ingredients, such as fish caught from the bay earlier that day.

Pizze are cooked in the restaurant’s wood fired oven and many of the pasta dishes use fresh pasta made by hand. For example, there is the scialatielli ai frutti di mare, which is a dish made from hand cut strips of pasta served with a sauce of seafood and tomatoes.

The restaurant is particularly renowned for its gnocchi alla sorrentina, small potato dumplings served with a rich tomato sauce with mozzarella and basil, finished off in the oven.

Il Pozzo, which means ‘the well’, has tables outside under an awning and a spacious room for dining inside with air conditioning.

Delicious gnocchi alla sorrentina

During the winter Il Pozzo is open from 12.00 to 15.00 and from 18:00 to 24:00. During the summer the restaurant is open from 12:00 to 24:00. Its closing day is Wednesday.

To book telephone +39 081 8774876 or email info@ilpozzoristorante.it 

To look at the menu visit www.ilpozzoristorante.it

Chiesa dell’Annunziata Sorrento

Art treasures lie behind simple facade 

The imposing Chiesa dell’Annunziata is up a short flight of steps from Piazza Veniero, off Via Fuoro in the centre of Sorrento.

The stone-fronted church has ancient origins but the exact date it was founded is not known. It is thought to have been built at some time during the 12th century on the site of an ancient temple, which had been dedicated to the goddess Cybele. A first century altar once discovered in the church is now in the Museo Correale in Sorrento.

The facade of the Chiesa dell'Annunziata in Piazza Veniero,
just off Via Fuoro in the centre of Sorrento

Highlights of the many works of art inside the church include a 17th century wooden crucifix and an 18th century painting of the Madonna and Child by Filippo Andreoli, which is in the centre of the ceiling.

Above the decorative main altar in a niche is a 17th century statue of the Madonna della Consolazione.

A canvas by Paolo De Maio, signed and dated 1741, depicts the Annunciation, the event in the Bible after which the church is named, when the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit to be called Jesus.

The church also has many beautiful works by artists from the 18th century Neapolitan school of painting.

The six side altars belonged to different Sorrento families who at one time had the right to be buried in the church.

In the 14th century there was a monastery attached to the church and Augustinian friars from it would officiate at the services. The friars handed the church over to its congregation in the 19th century.

The church is a short walk from Piazza Tasso along Via San Cesareo and Via Fuoro until you reach Vico il Fuoro, after which you turn into Piazza Veniero.

It is well worth a look inside and is open to visitors from 7.30 to 11.00 and from 18.00 to 20.00.