5 things not to miss in Furore
Located just a few kilometers from our boutique hotel, Furore is a charming village surrounded by nature. This is how Katia Salvini defined it: “A place dear to the gods, a hanging garden clinging to the mountain and stretching out over the blue sea and sky.” Listed among “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy,” it is also known as “the village that isn’t there,” for its built-up area scattered on the sides of the mountain, and as “the painted village” for the countless murals that adorn the walls of the houses and buildings.
What to see and do in Furore? Here are 5 things not to miss!
The Fiord
Furore’s pride and joy is the Fiord, a wonderful inlet nestled between two mountain sides that attracts visitors from all over the world. It has been called “a corner of Norway cut into the rock of the Mediterranean,” although it is not a real fjord. In the seaward boundary there is a small beach of white pebbles framed by the steep walls of the valley. It was also used as a film set by the great Italian director Roberto Rossellini. According to one legend it was the devil himself who created it, but in truth the cleft in the rock was carved out over the centuries by the Schiato stream.
The Church of St. James
The Church of San Giacomo, also known as Santo Jaco, is the oldest religious building in Furore. The date of its construction is uncertain but it was probably built at the end of the 13th century on the site of a rock chapel. The bell tower, culminating in a pinnacle covered with majolica tiles, is one of the elements that characterize the panorama of the place. Inside, in the rooms below the right aisle, a pictorial cycle of considerable historical and artistic interest was found, whose iconography, together with the figures of Magdalene, St. Catherine of Alexandria and, perhaps, St. Lucy, tells the stories of St. Margaret.
The Church of St. Elijah the Prophet
Another religious building not to be missed is the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet, located in a peripheral position with respect to the more central area of the town of Furore. Small in size, it presents evident stratifications of styles that have overlapped. The church was built around the 14th century, but its present appearance is the result of the expansion carried out in the second half of the 15th century. Inside you can admire a valuable wooden triptych representing the Madonna and Child and Saints Elijah and Bartholomew, signed by Angelo Antonelli of Capua and dated 1479 on the base of the Virgin’s throne.
The Walk of Love
If you are an incurable romantic, you cannot miss the Love Walk for any reason in the world. The path, which proceeds a few hundred meters in elevation, starts from the narrow street in front of the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet and continues under an arbor of wisteria and roses to the Piazzetta Aphrodite, in which stands the Fountain of the Seven Spouts, whose taps are each named after an archetype of love. Along the short walk are a large number of majolica tiles with quotes inviting reflection on the theme of love by William Shakespeare, Jacques Prévert, Roberto Rossellini, Domenico Modugno, Jovanotti and many others.
The Fish Fox Trail
From the Church of Sant’Elia Profeta also starts the Fisherman’s Fox Trail, which runs entirely through the municipality of Furore. The trail, which takes just over 40 minutes, descends along the ancient path of the fisherman farmer to the Fiord, creeping like a thin rift inside the mountain. It takes its name from the sly and hungry fox that goes as far as the sea to find something to eat. From the Fiord it is then possible to continue on the Mad Bat Trail, which leads to Punta Tavola, a small plateau overlooking the valley in the municipality of Conca dei Marini.
