Sorrento is a beautiful town perched on a cliff high above the sea with views of Vesuvius and the islands in the Bay of Naples . Use this website to help you plan a visit to this elegant southern Italian resort and find your way to the best beaches and some lovely villages and towns along the Sorrentine peninsula that are perhaps less well known to tourists.

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San Baccolo of Sorrento

A painting of San Baccolo by Carlo Amalfi,
 in the crypt of the Basilica of  Sant'Antonino
Sorrento is today celebrating the feast day of one of their patron saints, San Baccolo.

The saint, who is venerated as a former Bishop of Sorrento, died on August 27, which became his feast day in the Catholic calendar.

His remains were initially buried in one of the city’s ancient walls, but they were later moved to the Church of Santi Felice e Baccolo in Sorrento, now known as the Church of the Rosario.

A book written about the life of Sant’Antonino, the most important patron saint of Sorrento, refers to other saints of Sorrento, such as the bishops Renatus, Athanasius and Baculus, known in Italian as Baccolo.

The saints are described from their appearance in a painting by Luca Giordano showing them surrounding the cross while Christ was being crucified. This painting is now in Palazzo Reale in Naples.

It is thought Baccolo was Bishop of Sorrento at some time during the seventh century.

The Church of San Rosario in Via Tasso
The Church of San Rosario in Via Tasso
The Church of Santi Felice e Baccolo, known also as the Church of the Rosario, is in the historic centre of Sorrento.

Between the 12th and the 15th centuries the church was the Cathedral of Sorrento.

It had been built by a Duke of Sorrento to make evil spirits, who seemed to be plaguing the area, disappear.

Its origins probably date back to the time of Constantine the Great in the fourth century when a building was constructed over the remains of a pagan temple.

The present day church of San Rosario in Via Tasso is considered one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in Sorrento.

The Church has one nave and on the high altar is a statue of the Madonna of the Rosary. The Church also has a statue of San Baccolo and beneath the altar there is an urn containing his relics.