Between Permanence and Transformation: ‘Sacred’ Routes in Sorrento-Amalfi Peninsula

The Sorrento-Amalfi Peninsula is characterized by a delicate equilibrium between natural and human traces, permanence and transformation in which each of the components – stratified during centuries – represents an essential part of the whole. Considering the evolution of the religion from Pagan to Christian cult and the consequent adaptation of places and structures of worship, in a context like this, despite the overlap of material and immaterial stratifications, it is possible to identify the persistence of traditions and uses in a sort of religious syncretism that connects rituals of the past to contemporary ones. In contrast to the primitive cult of the Sirens – mythical creatures described by Homer in the Odyssey – only recalled by literary resources, the ancient cults dedicated to Athena and to Apollo appear to be testified by material evidences. In both cases, in fact, the sources refer to the presence of two places of worship which were connected to the inland by paths used during centuries by pilgrims to reach them. These ‘pilgrimages’ routes retain still today their spiritual vocation, conserving it through the tangible presence of ancient traces or the intangible continuity in traditions and uses. Therefore, in the landscape of the Sorrento-Amalfi Peninsula, the communication paths, as in the ancient forms, as in their modern stratifications, constitute a fundamental component of the multi-stratified palimpsest. Within this ancient system the ‘sacred’ routes assume a role of great importance: they testify the remarkable religious tension that has always characterized these places, the continuity in their ‘spiritual’ use, as well as, the presence of a particular ‘sacredness’ in these lands. Finally, through the comprehension of tangible and intangible values retained in the pilgrimages routes, an in-depth interpretation of the relationship between the traces of ancient and modern cults in Sorrento-Amalfi Peninsula could be reached. Moreover, the comprehension of overlaps and contrasts in the landscape along those itineraries allows to defining adequate guide-lines for the conservation of this cultural palimpsest.