A majolica dome dominates the panorama. Below us, the sea bathes the coasts of Maiori, expanding to a building that looks like a fairytale castle.
From these streets everything looks like being at the right distance. We are on the Path of the Lemons, on the hilly sides that divide Maiori from Minori, in the heart of the Amalfi Coast. A few meters further down, the vitality of the Coast between walks, restaurants, bar tables and dives into the sea. Up here the gaze takes a pause for reflection and admires this enchanted place in all its beauty.
The Path of the Lemons starts from Maiori, from the collegiate church of Santa Maria a Mare. A largely paved path, with sparse dirt sections, marked by about 400 steps that lead us to the top of this stretch of the coast. With comfortable clothes and a bottle of water, go up along the Via Vena which slowly takes us to the small village of Torre, just halfway between Maiori and Minori.
Ph. Machi di Pace
Here the peasants carry on the tradition of the Amalfi lemon called "sfusato", as it happened a hundred years ago: baskets of colorful lemons carried by hand or on the back of a mule, harvested from lemon groves that make this stretch of road look like a dark green sky embellished with yellow stars.
Ph. Machi di Pace
Ph. Machi di Pace
Walking along this path, we discover vast gardens and ancient farms. We see the "flying peasants", so-called because they climb virtuously on the wooden poles that support the lemon trees and whirl over our heads. One of them, the host, offers us a sfusato to eat strictly raw. With all the peel. The flavor is incredible: harmonious, slightly acrid, very savory. A small agricultural masterpiece in this miraculous land.
Ph. Machi di Pace
The other lemon groves open up lushly around us, while we continue to cross the paths that lead us to the Mortella di Minori viewpoint. From here, the small coastal town seems to return to its ancient vocation as a fishing village, with elements of a rural landscape.
Ph. Machi di Pace
«Here time has stopped», says our guide Francesco Damiano. It seems like a cliché, but living in this place we realize it's true. We breathe slowly to recover the "slowness" of human rhythms. To recover the right dimension of everyday life.