Positano is the most famous and iconic village, the pearl of the Amalfi Coast, the spectacular strip of coastline with the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea to one side and the peaks of the Lattari Mountains to the other.
It lies in the ravine of the Mulini Valley, along the Gulf of Salerno, southeast of Naples. Although it was known in the 4th century, Amalfi was of little importance until the mid-6th century under the Byzantines. As one of the first Italian maritime republics in the 9th century, it rivaled Pisa, Genoa, Venice, and Gaeta as a naval power in trade with the East. Subdued and annexed by King Roger II of Sicily in 1131, it was sacked by the Pisans in 1135 and 1137 and rapidly declined in importance, although its maritime code, the Tavola Amalfitana (“Table of Amalfi”), was recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570.