Amalfi, Italy

Amalfi rests at the mouth of a deep ravine on the Gulf of Salerno, supporting roughly 4,700 residents along the Amalfi Coast. From the 9th to 11th centuries, the town served as the capital of the Duchy of Amalfi, a dominant maritime republic in Mediterranean trade. The central Piazza del Duomo is dominated by the 9th-century Amalfi Cathedral (Duomo di Sant'Andrea), featuring a striped Arab-Norman facade and bronze doors from Constantinople. Historic paper mills in the valley above the town preserve centuries-old handmade paper production techniques at the Museo della Carta. Visitors walk narrow vaulted passages through the old town, tour coastal lemon groves, and board ferries along the Tyrrhenian shore.