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A Etruscan landing place, or Greek ( between the VII and IV centuries
B.C. ) the Valle del Dragone was un-inhabited until the VI
century, when the practical inhabitants of Scala opened it to sea: the
first settlement was born, named because of the narrow form of Atrani,
from the Latin antrum, narrow or dark...
In the heart of the
Amalfitan alliance the small hamlet became powerful: a city "
twin of Amalfi ", place of investiture of the Duchy and residence
of the Nobles...
The middle of the year 1000 A.D. saw the arrival of the Normans and
the encounter with the Pope . The people of the Coast after the first
indecision allied with the Guelph faction , Manfred was not pleased,
and reacted in a ruthless manner ; averse to Atrani in particular, he
turned on them with fervour sending a garrison of 1000 Alexandrian
mercenaries who took possession and expelled the inhabitants.
Tradition attributes to the celestial intervention of S.Maria
Maddalena the estrangement of the predators , who never the less
left a trace of the occupation in the cadence and some dialect words...
In the following years the story of Atrani was much like that of
Amalfi...
In 1734 the Bourbons came to the throne of Naples , after centuries of
misery and abandon the new rulers brought a wind of change , culture
and development, at Atrani, along the valley of Dragone, paper
factories, textile factories (providing wool cloth and sagette) , and
above all pasta -making , that maintained a certain level of commerce
in the town. The pasta of the Coast was famous and the enterprising
people of Atrani sold to all the outlying towns. Cava dei Tirreni,
Vietri sul Mare (called the quarter of the Atranese), in the valley of
the Sele and Paestum, and even down to Calabria where there was a
large colony ...
Then : The Romantic Grand Tour and in the sixties , the years of the
economic boom and the sweet life... the young lions who divided the
Summer between Capri , Amalfi and Positano...
Atrani was now swarming with actors, producers, artists of all types
and adventurers : Jackie Kennedy who danced barefoot on the tables of
Chez Checco, Rossellini turned the town into an exclusive cinema
set...In the footsteps of the VIPS , tourism exploded....
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