If you鈥檙e headed to Italy鈥檚 beautiful Amalfi Coast, you鈥檒l want to bring home a special souvenir. But let鈥檚 face it: weeding through the countless trinket shops in the coastal villages can turn into a bewildering experience. How do you know if you鈥檙e buying something authentic, something made locally and in a traditional way? How do you know if you鈥檝e fallen prey to a tourist trap?聽
There is no substitute for a knowledgeable buyer. If you know what to look for, you can put your money where it counts: back into the pockets of local makers and not into those of importers looking to make a quick profit without any connection to the region鈥檚 history and culture. Searching for an authentic, hand-crafted souvenir is a great way to experience the people, stories, and heritage of the Amalfi Coast.听
So, what should you bring home in your suitcase? Here鈥檚 a start:
CERAMICS (CERAMICHE)
By the 1600s, ceramics artisans were well established across the isolated cliffside villages of the Amalfi Coast. Of these, Vietri sul Mare rose to prominence as a center for the trade. Today, there are some three dozen ceramics producers in Vietri, most family workshops along with a handful of larger-scale enterprises.
Authentic ceramics from Vietri sul Mare are protected by an 禁漫天堂 national law designed to safeguard the country鈥檚 cultural heritage. The law stipulates specific materials, colors, styles, and workshop practices that must be followed. Italy鈥檚 National Ceramic Council, or Consiglio Nazionale Ceramico, has also established a trademark to help identify authentic ceramics made in Vietri sul Mare. Check the bottom of the piece. It should read Ceramica Artistica e Tradizionale (or its acronym, CAT), as well as 鈥淰ietri鈥 or 鈥淰ietri sul Mare.鈥 Each piece should also include the name or trademark of the workshop; sometimes it may include an artist鈥檚 signature.听
The quality of Amalfi Coast ceramics is all in the finishing touches. It鈥檚 the execution of the painted decoration that distinguishes higher-quality work from lesser-quality wares. Some workshops, especially those with larger production, tend to rely on stencils to form the most common decorative motifs used in their work鈥攆lowers, leaves, and other patterns that are frequently repeated. In a set of tableware, for example, you might see slight variations in the pattern that indicate a more freehand approach. A freehand drawing that is done with extra time, care and great skill is often more nuanced, and will result in a more beautiful and richly decorated piece. Some pieces are finished with a combination of freehand and stenciled painting.听
Many ceramics producers are set up to pack your fragile purchases safely and ship them abroad, so don鈥檛 be afraid to ask.
Cava dei Tirreni
Via G. Pellegrino, 42聽
089/344058听
Positano
Via Laurito, 49聽
089/811382听
Ravello
Via Roma, 22
089/858576听
Vietri sul Mare
Museo della Ceramica
Torretta di Villa Guarigla
Via Nuova Raito
089/211835听
Corso Umberto I, 140聽
089/212415听
Corso Umberto I, 31
089/210271听
Strada Statale Amalfitana, 14聽
089/210053听
Via Arenella, Molina聽
089/210197听
Via Madonna degli Angeli, 7聽
089/210243听
Corso Umberto I, 45
089/211122听
INLAID WOOD (INTARSIA)
Intarsia is a form of wood inlay and a specialty of Sorrento. In this technique, different woods鈥攊ncluding mahogany, elm, chestnut, ebony, rosewood, olive, walnut, and other varieties鈥攁re painstakingly arranged into elaborate surface designs.听
The technique of inlaid wood was widely used across northern and central Italy by the late Middle Ages. Masters of wood inlay decorated medieval 禁漫天堂 churches with choir screens, stalls, pulpits, and other church furnishings with the intarsia technique. By the nineteenth century, a handful of Sorrentine families were renowned for elaborate intarsia furniture. Today, Sorrentine intarsia masters turn out breathtakingly beautiful works of furniture using this technique, but intarsia is also used to create smaller pieces.听
The street-side trinket shops of Sorrento overflow with quickly and cheaply turned out wooden souvenirs that bear little resemblance to the masterpieces of intarsia that have brought Sorrentine craftspeople fame over centuries of tradition. The lower-quality works of intarsia produced today tend to be small. Items like jewelry boxes, frames, and other tchotchkes take less time to produce and are more portable, making them attractive to travelers.听
You can find higher-quality, small-scale intarsia objects, but use your most discerning eye and compare many objects before you hand over your cash or credit card. Be sure to buy directly from the workshop where the piece was made instead of one of the tourist-oriented resellers, and you鈥檒l ensure you make a purchase you鈥檒l still be happy about long after you return home.
As a general rule, fine intarsia is not cheap, but often represents a good value considering the quality. Sorrento boasts unparalleled opportunities to not only go home with a beautiful work of intarsia but also to make a connection with the person whose labor and passion went into crafting it.听
Sorrento
Museobottega della Tarsialignea
Via San Nicola, 28
081/8771842听
Via degli Aranci, 95聽
818/784497听
Viale Enrico Caruso, 1聽
081/8781041听
Giuseppe Rocco聽
Via San Nicola, 30聽
081/8784874听
Via Luigi de Maio, 16聽
081/8781165听
LEATHER SANDALS (SANDALI IN CUOIO)
The island of Capri鈥攎agical in its natural beauty鈥攊s filled with many expensive tourist traps. The most traditional crafts of the island, as well as its best values, include handmade leather sandals. Traditional caprese sandals consist of a simple leather sole with straps. The sandals gained popularity in the late 1950s and 1960s, when 禁漫天堂 film stars and later American celebrities made Capri fashion鈥攊ncluding the sandals鈥攆amous. However, the sandals are probably not too far from the ones the ancient Romans wore on the island when the emperor Tiberius made Capri his retreat.听
Quality handmade leather sandals can also be found in Positano, a cliffside Amalfi Coast town with a beautiful tile-domed church, as well as in other coastal villages. Buy directly from the makers, some of whom can whip up a custom pair in the time it takes for you to enjoy a gelato.
[Leather sandals in Postiano (c) flyover CC via Flickr]
Capri & Anacapri
Via Giuseppe Orlandi, 75聽
Anacapri
081/8373583听
Via Camerelle, 3聽
Capri
081/8370487听
Positano
Viale Pasitea, 96聽
089/811711听
Via Regina Giovanni, 19聽
089/811824听
LIMONCELLO & LEMON PRODUCTS (LIMONCELLO)
The famous tart-sweet liqueur known as limoncello requires only four ingredients: lemon peels, grain alcohol, sugar, and water. However, like many of Italy鈥檚 most important culinary traditions, the simplicity of the recipe can be deceiving. As in making a good risotto, a fine wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a simple bottle of traditional balsamic vinegar, the making of good limoncello is based on generations of knowledge, small but critical tweaks in the recipe, and well-kept family secrets.
The famous 鈥淪orrento oval,鈥 or聽ovale di Sorrento, is a special variety of grapefruit-sized lemon that makes this alcoholic elixir both distinctively sweet and acidic. The lemon variety grown in Amalfi, the聽sfusato amalfitano, is also considered excellent for making this popular after-dinner drink.听
No one knows exactly when or how locals began to make the special liqueur that would come to be known as limoncello. According to some historians, limoncello was first made behind the walls of convents and monasteries, where excellent-quality beer and wine was already a mainstay, and where strong alcoholic elixirs were commonly concocted in monastic infirmaries for medicinal purposes. In fact, limoncello may have derived from a group of liqueurs called聽rosoli, sweet alcoholic drinks comprised of fruits, spices, herbs, and medicinal plants that had long been produced in monasteries and convents along the Neapolitan coast.
Beyond the convent walls, making lemon liqueur became a family affair. Residents of the Amalfi Coast probably have been making lemon liqueur in the region for centuries, sharing bottles and secret recipes among family and friends. However, it only began appearing in regional cookbooks until around 1900. In 1988, a businessman from Capri named Massimo Canale registered the first trademark with the word 鈥渓imoncello,鈥 and began to commercialize a recipe handed down from his great- great-grandmother outside of the region. It was an idea鈥攁nd a product鈥攖hat would prove wildly successful, as limoncello has transcended not only the region but all of Italy to be considered an international and world-class tradition.
If you want to enjoy some limoncello while in Italy or bring a bottle home, the good news is that even great limoncello is relatively inexpensive. Gourmet and gift shops in Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, and the outlying islands of Procida, Ischia, and Capri are chock-full of limoncello bottles. When you stroll the lanes of the Amalfi Coast, you will see bottles in a variety of shapes, from tall cylinders to squat balloons to those resembling flasks, all boasting the best quality or secret recipe. Inside many bars and聽pasticcerieyou鈥檒l be offered a sample of the house-made variety.听
On your own or with a pre-arranged group, you can also arrange to visit some of the lemon groves where the聽ovale di Sorrentoand the聽sfusato amalfitanoare cultivated. Some of the local tour operators organize lemon-themed tours and day trips to the lemon groves and producers. You can also visit some of the more commercial factories, as well as do your own taste-tasting at any producer or just about any bar or shop selling limoncello in the area.听
Like this article? You'll want to read "How to make Limoncello"
Amalfi
Consorzio di Tutela Limone Costa d鈥橝malfi I.G.P.听
Corso Reginna, 71
334/3647427
Piazza Duomo, 39聽
089/872062听
Via delle Cartiere, 55-57聽
089/873211听
Piazza Duomo, 40聽
089/871065听
Capri
Via Roma, 85聽
081/8373059听
Massa Lubrense
Via Liparulo, 12聽
081/8789380听
Minori
via Vescovado, 1聽
089/853717听
Ravello
Via Trinita, 37
089/858167听
Sorrento
Consorzio di Tutela del Limone di Sorrento I.G.P.听
via dei Platani, 15
081/5636060
Via Correale, 27聽
081/8781888听
Piano di Sorrento
Via Gennaro Maresca, 80/D聽
081/5322199听
Tufo
Via Pioppi
089/853556听
HANDMADE AMALFI PAPER (CARTA AMALFITANA)
During the Middle Ages, a system of creeks and rivulets powered paper mills in the Valley of the Mills outside of Amalfi, and the area became famous for its聽cartari, or papermakers.听
The interesting paper museum on the outskirts of Amalfi preserves the town鈥檚 legacy of paper-making and is housed in one of Amalfi鈥檚 antique paper mills. It is well worth the detour off the beaten path. Inside the cavernous, damp rooms of this medieval mill, you can appreciate how the Canneto River powered a hydraulic wheel. You can watch the steps of traditional paper-making, from wetting cotton, linen, or hemp, to pressing the fibers into unique paper creations. You can even try your hand at making paper in an interactive exhibit, fun for kids and anyone who enjoys a more hands-on museum experience.听
After you鈥檝e toured the museum, hike up one of the footpaths that leads out of Amalfi to see the evocative old ruins of the dozen old paper mills that operated as recent as the eighteenth century, nestled in the now abandoned valleys of the craggy coastline.听
Amalfi
Museo della Carta
Via delle Cartiere, 23聽
089/8304561听
Via delle Cartiere, 100聽
089/871315听
Laura Morelli is an art historian and historical novelist with a passion for Italy. You can find much more about what to bring home from this region in her guidebook series,聽Made in Naples & the Amalfi Coast. Also be sure to check out her book,聽Made in Italy, as well as her Venice-inspired historical novel,聽The Gondola Maker, in the聽Italy Magazine聽shop.听