From Nerano to the Bay of Ieranto with Douglas, Ulysses and the Sirens

The village of Nerano welcomes with the whiteness of its cluster of houses twisting around the majolica-tiled dome of the parish church of San Salvatore and its vertiginous bell tower with its wooden body. Perched on the hills overlooking the bay of Marina del Cantone, also famous for having given its name to an iconic spaghetti dish on the Sorrento Peninsula with courgettes, provolone del Monaco, black pepper, garlic and basil, this town is the destination of a winter excursion of rarefied scenic beauty: a path unfolding uphill from the heart of Nerano, in fact, leads to the bay of Ieranto. The first steps among the moss-covered lemons and greenery lap the gateway to what was once the marvellous home of the British writer Norman Douglas, who from his window enjoyed the magnificent view of the coast, in which he thoroughly 'drenched' his imagination for his book Siren Land. The path then proceeds in an arduous and narrow manner, never dangerous, opening up towards the Saracen tower and the apparition of the Li Galli archipelago under a sky that is never so clear and blue as it is at this time of year, until the descent into the spectacular ravine of Ieranto. Thanks to the care of the FAI, precisely where according to Homer Ulysses is said to have met the tempting, persuasive, creatures at once female and marine, the bay that had been vilified by Italsider's quarrying activity has been reborn in its flora and fauna.