Various are also the hypotheses linked to the name (Sorrentum, Syrentum) which is found in the writings of Ovid, Stradone, Seneca, Ennius, Galenus, Horace, Martial, Plinius and Stazio. According to the most famous legend, its etymon would be linked to the myth of Memaids, half women and half fish, who, from the waters of the sea of Sorrento, enchanted Ulysses whilst, according to another legend, the name would depend on Sirentum, the girl born by two peasants of the hilly area of Casarlano who, abducted by the Saracens, was claimed by the Sorrento people. Recent studies, instead, would make the name of the Greek verb surreo, which means contribute, flow together, or also flow into, referring to the morphology of the Sorrento ridge, characterized by the presence of two watercourses which flow into the sea distinctly. Some urban and archaeological elements make us think of a Greek presence between 474 and 420 B.C. when the town was conquered by the Sannites. In the 3rd century B.C. Sorrento was conquered by the Roman Empire, and took its destiny first as a colony and then as Municipality in the 1st century B.C.

In the Imperial age, between the age of Caesar and that of Hadrian, Sorrento, for its mild climate, was chosen as a stay by many emperors and aristocrats who commissioned residences and maritime villas, along the coast, as Villa Pollio Felice, at the Capo di Sorrento, and Villa Agrippa Postumo, under the present Syrene Hotel. In the Early Middle Ages Sorrento was occupied by the Goths, by the Longobards and the Byzantines (552) and under Sergio 1st raised the status of Dukedom. The Dukedom of Sorrento extended its boundaries all over the Peninsula, soon giving life to a blooming economy based on the building of naval equipments, on trade and the production of citruses and wine.

Later (1100), the Dukedom became a sort of Norman protectorate, thus giving up its political autonomy but receiving in exchange protection against incursions by pirates and Longobards. In the Angevin period, at the beginning of the 14th century, nobles divided themselves into two Seats, (or Squares) with the establishment of the Sedile Dominova in contrast with the original Sedile di Porta. The prestige of the Sorrento noble seats went beyond its regional narrowness, coming to contend in the Spanish period some privileges with the capital Naples itself. Very intense were maritime traffics between Sorrento and the ports of the Gulf of Naples and of Southern Italy, the products which were at the basis of its economy were fruit, wine, oil, meat and by-products of milk. The year 1544 represents an important date for Italian and European cultures: in that year the poet Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento, the author of the famous Jerusalem Freed and of other poems.

In 1558 Sorrento was destroyed and sacked by the Turks, and this implied the fortification of walls and the building of coastal towers. In this period a strong economic standstill, due to impoverishment and to the Spanish fiscal pressure, an aspect which caused the rebellion of country people of the hamlets, who had wanted to be independent from the town patricians for a long time. In this context the revolt of the Genoese Giovanni Grillo (1648) takes its place, who, by exploiting the contrasts which for years had occurred with the local nobles, managed to unite people and farmers, causing a long state of siege. In the age of the Counter-Reformation, the artistic and social aspect of the patrician town declined and, with the building of various academies and monasteries, the town achieved a conventual aspect. In 1799 the town adhered to the Jacobin Republic, but people from Sorrento, faithful to the Bourbons, favoured their return by hindering some revolutionary ideas of freedom. In the first Bourbon period the maritime activity and the fishing of tuna developed, flourishing up to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1805, when Ferdinand IV of Bourbon was chased away by the French, Sorrento was governed by Giuseppe Bonaparte first, and then by Gioacchino Murat: it was then that the noble Seats were abolished.

With the defeat of Waterloo (1815) the Bourbons returned to Sorrento, with Ferdinand I, and the town found its balance again with the revival of commercial activities and the development of agriculture, shipbuilding industry, handicraft and tourism. After the Unity of Italy, S. Agnello became autonomous, and for Sorrento an urban renewal, which transformed its ancient Roman aspect, made of cards and decumani, with the building of a new road, the present Corso Italia (1866). At the end of ‘800, the electrical system was built and the new electrical tramway system which began in Castellammare and finished in Sorrento in Piazza Mercato, which would be abolished in 1948 after the building of the railway network. In the course of years, Sorrento became a privileged destination of renowned figures of the European culture, such as Lord Byron, Keats, Goethe, Dickens, Wagner, Ibsen and Nietzsche. Agriculture lived, in the early ‘900, a second youth thanks to the intensive cultivation of citruses which were exported all over the Peninsula and abroad. The latest periods, in particular since the ‘60s, have seen the progressive development of tourist business which, in a short time, has become the leading sector of Sorrento economy.

Sorrento offers to visitors a great variety of beauties to admire, natural places where to contemplate so many suggestive landscapes, like the whole Sorrento Coast. Besides the naturalistic treasures, yet, the town has a great heritage of monuments, churches, museums and squares of great historical and cultural value, which quench the thirst of culture of tourists and visitors, thus contributing, together with the other aspects, to making a stay in Sorrento complete. Hereafter there are some sites to visit:
Piazza Tasso: It was raised during the 14th century after some urban changes which took place in Sorrento. In the past it was called Largo del Castello, because, where nowadays there is the statue of St. Antonino, there was a castle of the Aragon time. In 1844 the five-hundred walls were demolished, which had been built round the glens as a defence from incursions, while later the gate which gave access to the town from east was demolished, the so-called Porta del Piano, on the top of which there was the tuff statue of St. Antonino; this statue, taken away by its author A. Torrese, was put on a pillar near the Hotel Rispoli. In 1870 the monument dedicated to Torquato Tasso was inaugurated. It was in that period, thanks to the opening of a new road, that the series of nineteen-century buildings edging the present Corso Italia arose.
Ancient Walls: They are near the Gate of Parsano Nuova, opened in 1745, in the area where there must already be an access to the town going back to 16th century, and testified by the presence of two bastions and by the gunports located on their sides. Under the road plan of the Gate there are the defensive walls which, as testified by the stone blocks of the arch, located along and in front, would go back to the Greek age. During the excavations as of 1921 remains supposed to date back to the Age of Augustus were discovered. These walls were used in the Middle Ages as a defence of the town from external attacks. Their remaking, started in the first half of the 16th century, finished in 1558, after the attack by the Turks.
Sedile Dominova: The name of the Seat derives from the expression domus nova (new house) and was commissioned by nobles who in the 14th century had freed themselves from the group of the seat Sedile di Porta. On the small pillars located along the balustrade there is a stem representing a passing she-wolf. The architectural line is of Renaissance origin, the two façades are in piperno with two arches. Very interesting are the frescos like that of the stem of Sorrento sustained by a group of angels. In the dome, made with yellow and green fish-scale majolica tiles, there are the heraldic signs of the noble families belonging to the Sedile.
Sedile di Porta: Today seat of the Circolo Sorrentino, the Sedile di Porta is located on the corner between Via Tasso and Via San Cesareo, and owes its name to the fact that it was built near the main gate of Sorrento, close to the Largo Castello. With the abolition of the Seats, the building was turned into prison and then into seat of the Guards of the Town Army. The clock which can be seen from the main façade dates back to 1882 and was built after almost forty years from the former which was located under the bell tower of the Castle, where now Piazza Tasso is. Clocks were very useful for the population because they marked the awakening, the times for meetings, business and departures to other sea towns, so the administration always had to grant their good functioning.
Vallone dei Mulini: Among the five glens characterizing Sorrento Coast, and which in the past divided one town from another, the only one better kept, and escaped from the changes brought about in the various times, is the Vallone dei Mulini which takes its name from the presence of a mill used until the beginning of 1900 to grind corn. The waters which flowed down from the hills and the spring ones fostered a sawmill annexed to the mill, useful for the working of various kinds of wood, used for the art of inlay. Another characteristic of the Glen was the presence of a public wash-tub where women went to wash the clothes. After 1866 the Glen was abandoned and the only evidences of its activity are the prints and the pictures the artists and visitors of the time left us.
Via delle Grazie: At number 16 of this road there is Durazzo Palace of the first half of the 15th century, the Ferola Palace. The portal is adorned with a relief decoration along the arched lintel and a stem on top. Along the same road there is also a medieval double lancet window presenting a motif decorated with a double row of dentils in the inner arch.
Via Pietà: it corresponds to the Higher Decumanus of the ancient urban plan which had the scheme of the ancient military camps. The road, linking Piazza Tasso to the main entrance of the Cathedral, and stopping by the bell tower of this one, keeps remarkable examples of medieval architecture. Among these ones: Palazzo Veniero, Palazzo Correale and the Loggia of Vico Galantario.
Via San Cesareo: This road, with a characteristic Hippodamian shape, can be reached from different spots of the town, and in the past it was used to defend oneself from the incursions of enemies. It is possible to have pleasant walks along it, to buy souvenirs, with a wide choice among hand-painted shepherds, carillons of Sorrento wood inlay, hand- embroidered clothes etc. Along the axes there are also various seventeenth- and eighteenth- century buildings which underwent the influence of the Neapolitan Baroque. In fact we can see ancient portals, characterized by simple drawings with round arches and big ashlars.
Gate of Marina Grande: At the end of a leaning road which in the past was opened at the feet of a tower, it is the most ancient gate kept after the demolitions as of 1800. Of the tower, today, we can see the gate and some pieces of the cordon. In the 15th century it was the only access to the town from the coastal area and, though it has undergone various changes, it remains the most ancient one, as one can see by the perfect isodomic structure and by the compactness of the two blocks, that is to say the two walls which flanked the road and which, by the outside, led to the gate.
Gate of Parsano Nuova: It was built in 1745, though its two bastions next to the gate and the gunports demonstrate that in the 16th century it was possible to enter the town thanks to the gate of Via Sersale. With the excavations as of 1900 it was discovered that under the present eighteenth-century gate there were some ruins of a gate going back to the Greek times. In 1925 some parapets were built as well as some walls to protect those ruins.
Gate of Marina Piccola: The Road to the beach, the landing place and shipyard of the town, was blocked by a gate which was the only access to it. It was next to the Church of Sant’ Antonino, and was surmounted by an embattled tower. On the right there was a garden of the Theatine Fathers, while on the north side there was an open space from which to admire Marina Piccola. This open space was bought by the Municipality in 1835 to give the possibility to visitors to admire the beach.

Sorrento, a longed-for destination on the Gulf of Naples, has been drawing, every year, for centuries, millions of visitors. In the heart of Sorrento Coast, it can be reached through the SS 145 which, from Castellammare di Stabia, goes up to Massa Lubrense. The route along the coast of Sorrento is not very smooth and is often subject to traffic jams, especially in Summer when buses and cars travel to the tourist resorts on the Gulf of Naples.
If you decide to reach Sorrento, between April and October, you could be stuck in long traffic jams before reaching your destination. Unfortunately, you will often find traffic even when you get to the destination: the enchanting towns of Sorrento Coast and of Amalfi Coast are, in most cases, poor in car parks and often busy, too.

The situation is made even more complicated by traffic restrictions which are fundamental to preserve the old town centre and the pedestrian precincts.
In Sorrento, in particular, from April to September 30th, from 7.30 p.m. to 12.00 there are traffic restrictions closing all the roads accessing to the main square (Piazza Tasso) and to the old town centre.
Yet, all the guests of the hotels located in this area have the possibility to go beyond the barriers thus reaching their destinations.

NB On the way to the Hotel Bellevue Syrene, at the height of Via Correale, there is a barrier which can be gone beyond only by those going to the hotels of the Old Town Centre of Sorrento and to the Port. Here is the route in detail to reach the Hotel by car.

A charming town over the Gulf of Naples, Sorrento is one of the most renowned tourist places of Campania region. The city, after which the Peninsula that extends from Vico Equense to Massa Lubrense is named, lies on a tuff coast at about 50 metres above sea level. Sorrento has about 18.000 inhabitants and extends on a surface of 9,9 square metres.

How to reach Sorrento

Foreign people who want to come in Italy and visit the evocative city of Sorrento need to show valid papers at the frontier. Papers must not run out after 6 months from arrival.

Citizens coming from United Europe countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Sweden and Finland), Iceland and Norway do not need to show any papers.

People coming from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and United States who want to stay in Italy for less than 90 days do not need visa. Visa is compulsory for people coming from all other countries.

Emergency

In case of emergency you can call the following free telephone numbers which work 24 hours a day:

- 113 (Police)
- 112 (Carabinieri)
- 115 (Fire Brigade)
- 1530 (Sea emergency)
- 1515 (Forest Rangers)

Health care

A health care service is offered to tourists in Italy. It is possible to call an ambulance through the free telephone number 118. In Sorrento there are numerous pharmacies and the “Santa Maria della Misericordia” Hospital which has an emergency ward open 24 hours a day (Corso Italia – tel. 081.533.11.12).

Currency

The Italian legal currency is the Euro. In Sorrento you can find banks, Post Offices and Private Offices which offer currency change service. They are open from Monday to Saturday. You can also find numerous cash points. The majority of shops accept credit card.

Climate

Thanks to its geographical position, Sorrento offers its guests a mild climate all year round.

A longed-for tourist destination of the Grand Tour, Sorrento is one of the resorts in Campania which, every year, draws millions of visitors from all over the world.

Lying in the Gulf of Naples, Sorrento offers all those who stay there numerous enchanting attractions: natural beauties and breathtaking views, a series of religious buildings and historical homes but also a mild climate and a delicious wine-gastronomy.



Rich is also its calendar of ancient folkloristic traditions: events and shows follow each other throughout the year. Suggestive and magical are the two periods of Easter and Christmas, lively and rich in dates is Sorrento summer and not to be missed is also St. Antonino’s Patronal Festival (February 14th).

Besides natural and cultural itineraries, Sorrento is well-known also for its warm hospitality the town reserves to its visitors. Having a strong tourist calling for such a long time, in fact, Sorrento has arranged its hospitality in an exceptional way. Hotels, bed and breakfasts, relais, holiday-houses but also restaurants, bars, cafeterias and all those services making a holiday in Sorrento unforgettable.

Welcoming in Sorrento is a real art: visitors are reserved particular care and attentions thanks to a real culture of hospitality grown in Sorrento people.