Amalfi Legends. Love, Passion, Faith.
Amalfi, one of the most picturesque and visited sites of the Italian Coast, was also the scene of wonderful stories that still continue to fascinate.
The Miracle of St. Andrew
Legend has it that on a dark night of the Middle Ages, a Saracen pirate, Barbarossa Ariadeno, attacked Amalfi in order to plunder it. The panicked citizens tried to flee, while some believers went to St. Andrew the Apostle’s tomb to pray and ask for a miracle. The pirates shortly after reached them, but suddenly there was a strong wind that dragged the bad guys off. After that, began a storm that hit just the ships of the pirates that eventually sank. The people of Amalfi were saved and hailed as a miracle of the patron saint. Every year is celebrated the patron Saint Andrew, to whom is also attributed the miracle of the “manna”. It is said that the “manna” comes out from the remains of the saint; this event happened for the first time in on 1304 on November 29. Nowadays it happens normally six times a year and it is certainly an extraordinary spectacle.
The Duchess of Amalfi
One of the most famous legends of the Amalfi Coast is the one of the Duchess of Amalfi and her sad love. Written by the famous English playwright John Webster, it is inspired by a true story that took place on the site. It is a real tragedy of love starring Joan of Aragon and his butler Antonio Bologna. The 14 years old girl was married to the Duke of Amalfi, Don Alfonso Tedeschini Piccolomini. After a few years the Duke died and the young Duchess found herself in solitude to administer the wealth of her husband. The butler Antonio helped her and suddenly they fell in love. They got married in secret and became parents of two children. But the news of this marriage began to leak out and came at the dreaded brother of the Duchess, the Cardinal of Aragon and Duke Gerace. He declaried this marriage unacceptable and accused her sister of madness. The butler Antonio, threatened with death, was forced to flee, then he was reached in Milan and killed. Worse fate awaited the duchess and her children, locked up and left to starve in the Tower of Ziro. Even today, it is said, that her soul wanders in the Tower in search of the freedom she was deprived of.
The Miracle of Milk
This legend dates back to the sixteenth century and concerns the wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace donated by the Neapolitan nobleman Don Giulio Cesare Bonito to Pogerola church, a fraction of Amalfi. The story goes that in the right breast of the statue there is a gray pebble set containing a drop of milk fell by the Madonna’s bosom while nursing Jesus. On August 14, 1500, at 2 am, the church bells began to ring, the pastor and the faithful flocked to the church and saw that the statue of the Madonna had gushed a large amount of milk. The Archbishop decided to lock up the stone into an ampoule after this miraculous event. Every year, on August 14 it is celebrated a solemn service in honor of this miracle and the stone turns white from gray.
