Amalfi

Amalfi has Roman origins, but it had its heyday in the Middle Ages. It became an independent State on 1st September 839 with its own administration, depending only nominally from Byzantium. Amalfi was the 1st Maritime Republic of Italy. It fought versus Pisa, Genoa and Venice to control the sea traffic in the Mediterranean sea. The expert navigators from Amalfi invented the dry compass, which revolutionized the techniques of navigation. Amalfi minted its own currency since the first part of the eleventh century, the golden tarì, which had a good purchasing power.

The Cathedral of Amalfi is an architectural complex consisting of two side by side communicating churches. The oldest, which now houses a fine museum of religious art, dates back to the sixth century, while the other, founded in 987, is dedicated to the Apostle Andrew.
The bell tower of the Cathedral was built in three phases: the foundation in 1180, the two-storey with double or triple lancet windows in 1190, the belfry in 1276 on the initiative of the Amalfitan Archbishop Philip Augustariccio.

The Shipyard was built in Arabic style and is characterized by pointed arches and vaults. It consists of two lanes separated by ten pillars; before 1343 it was twice as long and had a third lane. On that date, a powerful sea storm destroyed half of it. It turns out to be the only almost intact existing medieval Italian shipyard and now is home to the "Museum of the Compass and the maritime Dukedom".

The Paradise Cloister was founded in 1268 by Archbishop Philip Augustariccio. Until the sixteenth century it was the cemetery of the Amalfitan nobility.

The Crypt was built in 1203 and, since 8th May 1208, it houses the remains of St. Andrew the Apostle, brought from Constantinople by Cardinal Pietro Capuano from Amalfi on the occasion of the Fourth Crusade.