Amalfi was founded by the Romans in the fourth century AD. After winning independence from the Byzantine Empire in 893, Amalfi was the first of the four Marine Republics and its trade with the Orient was the basis of its wealth. Amalfi had a powerful and agile fleet with berths in the mayor ports of the Mediterranean Sea. Amalfi was able to establish itself as a maritime power in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Only two galleries separated by 10 pillars remain of the ancient stone arsenal, where the hulls of the battle-galleys were built.
The rest of the works and the ancient Amalfi port were destroyed after an earthquake below sea level, caused by tidal waves in November 1343.
The centre of the city lies partly on a slope and is distinguished by white houses that are partly terraced. The most important monument is the cathedral, dating back to the ninth century with Arabic-Norman reconstructions in 1203. It has a remarkable bell tower and the Chiosto del Paradiso (Cloister of Paradise) with narrow ornamental arcs. The bronze portal was made in Constantinople (century XI). In the municipal museum one can admire the "Tavole amalfitane", the maritime laws used in the Mediterranean Sea until the sixteenth century. In guided tours towards the Valle dei Mulini (Mill Valley) one can discover the secrets of the antique machines that once produced the well-known "Carta d'Amalfi" (paper of Amalfi).
Monuments
Cattedrale di S. Andrea: IX century;
Cripta del Duomo: starting from the 1304, in some special religious festive days, in the cript you can see the "miracle of the manna", that consists in the secretion of a oleous liquid on the surface of the interment of S. Andrea;
Chiostro Paradiso: placed just near the cathedral, it was built in the 1268. The architectonic building is one of the main examples of the amalfi romanic style;
Basilica del Crocifisso: IX century;
Arsenali della Repubblica: IX century. Of this special medioeval building today we can see only two wide spaces, covered by an elegant ceiling;
Museo Civico: In this museum you can see the "Tabula de Amalpha", part of the "Foscarinian Code" discovered in Vien e transported back in Amalfi in the 1929;
Museo della Civiltà Contadina: Here you can see a collection of aged machines and various tools of the agricultural world of last four century in Amalfi Coast.