Our journey started in the small Mediterranean town of Santa Maria di Castellabate, two hours south of Naples. This 11th Century town featured historic architecture in abundance; a baron’s castle, churches, and a warren of ancient streets complete with arches, alleys and hanging laundry. The castle fortification of Castellabate historically watched over the fishing village of S. Maria, for pirate incursions.

       

Using Santa Maria, as a base we explored the ancient Greek/Etruscan/Roman ruins at Paestum and Velia; visited Roscigno Vecchio, deep in the Alpi Bianchi mountains, abandoned after a 1898 earthquake, all now Unesco World Heritage sites.

    

Our travels took us to Matera, a city carved into a stone canyon, whose cultural history began with caves and continued through the Byzanthium to the modern day. In the mountaintop village of San Mauro, we were the guests of a family run agritourismo. We spent a day 'Piazza Hopping' across a chain of mountaintop villages, rising over green valleys and vast Mediterranean.

     

Our final destination was the quiet seaside town of Minori on the Amalfi Coast. From our base in Minori, we journeyed the dramatic Amalfi Coast to Ravello,Positano, Amalfi, Vietri, & Pompeii.

     

Student's Photography

home