Positano ‘out of this world’ place to visit: Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo

Positano: Italy’s ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo Tuesday said that Positano was ‘out of this world’ place to visit.

He said it was not a surprise that so many people visit Positano every year. “You will miss it if you don’t visit Positano while you are in Italy. It is such a beautiful place and my hometown too,” the envoy, who is on Christmas holidays, said.

Over the past few years, Positano has become a trendy spot for budding social-media influencers to visit. It has even welcomed celebrities like Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk.

Positano is stunning to behold. Its kaleidoscopic buildings cascade down the hillside like someone has spilled a giant bag of Skittles. It’s the perfect spot to strike a pose, take a selfie, and get the all-important food shots all in one place.

The climate of Positano thanks to its position is very mild, of the Mediterranean type; the winters are very warm with minimum temperatures that almost never fall below 6 degrees, while the summers are long, warm and sunny but often refreshed by the sea breeze.

Thanks to the mild temperature and the beauty of the landscape, Positano has been a holiday resort since the time of the Roman Empire, as evidenced by the discovery of a villa in the bay.

Typical are the many staircases that from the top of the village connect the upper districts with the valley area. The main beaches are Spiaggia Grande, Fornillo, La Porta, Fiumicello, Arienzo, San Pietro, Laurito and Remmese, some of which can also be reached by sea.

Positano was an essential stop for the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians on their expeditions to western areas. It is said that the coastal village was named after Poseidon, God of the Sea.

Like many other places along the beautiful campanian coast, it was a favourite site for wealthy ancient Romans to build rich and grand villas, one of which lies below the church of Santa Maria Assunta and has recently been opened to the public.

Positano became a wealthy market port from the 15th to 17th century and has only continued to grow in popularity over time. Back then they traded food such as fish and other resources.

Positano was a port of the Amalfi Republic in medieval times, and prospered during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the town had fallen on hard times. More than half the population emigrated, mostly to America.

Positano was a relatively poor fishing village during the first half of the twentieth century. It began to attract large numbers of tourists in the 1950s, especially after John Steinbeck published his essay about Positano in Harper’s Bazaar in May, 1953: “Positano bites deep”, Steinbeck wrote. “It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”