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Sorrento is a town of about 17,000 inhabitants on the northern coast of the Sorrento peninsula.
HISTORY
Legend has it that derives its name from the mythical mermaids, half woman half fish, which pushed the sailors to crash against the rocks. Probably of Greek origin, was controlled by the Romans in 89 A. C. Bishopric from 420, passed to the Byzantines in 552, and by the ninth century was an independent duchy, struggling with the nearby towns of Amalfi and Salerno. In 1137 the Duchy of Sorrento was built in the Norman kingdom, and since then followed the political fate of Naples.
The old town still shows the orthogonal layout of the streets of Roman origin, while to the mountain is surrounded by sixteenth century walls. We are the Cathedral, rebuilt in the fifteenth century, with neo-Gothic facade, and the church of St. Francis of Assisi, with a remarkable fourteenth-century cloister. Correale exhibited in the museum are collections of Greek and Roman artefacts and Capodimonte porcelain, with a section of paintings of the XVII-XIX century, the park can enjoy a magnificent view over the bay. At the Punta del Capo, 3 km to the west, are considered Roman ruins of the villa of Pollio Felice (first century AD).
ECONOMICS
The local economy is mainly based on tourism, cultural and resort on agriculture (citrus, grapes, nuts, olives, mulberries), on the food and the characteristic handicrafts of inlaid wood.
CELEBRITIES '
Torquato Tasso (Sorrento 1544 - Rome 1595), Italian poet.
SONG Torna A Surriento
Sorrento is dedicated to one of the most famous Neapolitan songs, Torna a Surriento. The song was composed for the visit to Sorrento by Giuseppe Zanardelli, then president of the Council of Ministers on 15 September 1902.
The mayor of the town, and owner Zanardelli hotel where he was staying, took the brothers Giambattista and Ernesto De Curtis to write a song to celebrate the illustrious visitor, with the hope of getting some assistance in return for Sorrento including the opening of a post office. Ernesto De Curtis recovered an old melody that he had composed some years earlier, and his brother wrote of casting a text appropriate for the occasion: thus was born Torna a Surriento.
With some changes of words, the song was presented at the Festival of Piedigrotta in 1905 from there began the great success of this song become one of the most famous Neapolitan songs in the world.
SPORT
On 29 May 1991 the 4th stage of the Tour of Italy in 1991 ended in Sorrento with the victory of Frenchman Eric Boyer.
CINEMA
The city is also headquarters of the International Film Festival, now in 2005 its 40th edition.
FILM
In 1955 he was shot in Sorrento the film Pane amore e. .. directed by Dino Risi with Sophia Loren and Vittorio De Sica.
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