Once a sleepy little fishing village and the secret of painters and writers, Positano’s "fatal gift of beauty" has been discovered.
However, its charms are still evident; square, white Moorish-style houses set in luxurious gardens, descend in steep steps down the mountain side to the bay where, off-shore lay the Galli Islands, legendary home of sirens who lured sailors to their doom. Positano can rightfully be called one of the most picturesque towns on the Campania coast. From afar it appears to be enclosed by the beautiful beach of Marina Grande and crowned by the green slopes of Mounts Comune and Sant’Angelo a Tre Pizzi. Tidily lined up on the terraces sloping down towards the blue sea, are the typical Moorish style white and pink houses.
The town is embroidered by the narrow and often winding lanes and steps which cross it and is dominated by the splendid dome covered in polychrome majolica of the church of S. Maria Assunta. Where a wide enough space can be found, there is always a piazzetta and café with a gathering of people pausing from the climb on the hundreds of steps which lead up the hillside.
