Campania “felix” was the name of this land since Roman times, for the impressive beauty and wealth of the place, often choosen for holiday resort by Roman gentry.
Pollio Felice, a Roman historian and poet, founder of a library in Rome and patron of Horace and Virgile, thought like that too when he built his mansion right on the Cape of Sorrento.
Nowadays, walking down a path towards the sea, we can only admire the ruins of his mansion, but we should imagine that in first century a.C. this was a huge compound, whose rooms looked out both on the sea and on the land, and they had large windows to enjoy the amazing view.
To increase the beauty of the compound was indeed the intern natural lagoon, connected to the sea by a natural calcareous archway; it was used both as docking and as swimming pool, and it’s nowadays famous as “Baths of Queen Joan”.
The Queen we are referring to was Joan of Anjou, sovereign of Naples in the second half of 14th century; she was an outrageous woman, and many rumors said that this lagoon was the discrete place where she used to meet her many young lovers! We can’t blame her: here you can find barren lands, crystal-clear waters, a breathtaking landscape… The ideal place to unwind and to take a refreshing dip, far from the rest of the world, surrounded by mediterrean nature.
In 1955 the director Dino Risi filmed here a scene of the famous comedy “Pane, amore e…”, the rendezvous between Sophia Loren and Vittorio De Sica.
Just one tip: if you decide to visit this amazing cove, wear your water shoes to protect you from the rocks… And then enjoy your bath!
Different Italian Journey 