Marina Grande-Sorrento's Best Kept Secret

Sorrento's Marina Grande is a special place, just off the tourists' radar.  Yet this charming community peeks through the curtains of mass tourism every Spring,  puts on a sweet smile, and then goes back to its regular business once the late Autumn cold sets in again.  We were fortunate enough to stay in Marina Grande for 8 days in March, make some friends and start to feel like locals.

The locals call Marina Grande an "Antico Borgo Marinaro" or Ancient Maritime Village.  It has been said by a travel guru that I admire; a Mr. Rick Steves (yup, I AM a total Rick-nic) that "even the cats look different in Marina Grande."  I don't know about that, but there sure are a lot of cute cats in Marina Grande, and unless you have a fish in your hand you are dead to them.  We did have one friendly black cat that walked into the house a few times, but he quickly discovered the cooking at the restaurant next door was MUCH better food than what I had to offer.  But this post is not about the cats.

The reason people think the cats, and the people of Marina Grande look different is that Marina Grande is technically a separate village from Sorrento.  As you can see from this old painting pictured above of Sorrento; Marina Grande is on the beach to the right of the city. Sorrento sits high above Marina Grande on a cliff and is surrounded by medieval city walls.  This left poor Marina Grande residents outside the walls of protection from an attack of invading armies or Turkish pirates called Saracens that used to rape, pillage and plunder along this coast.  Only small sections of Sorrento's original wall remains to be seen today, but this ancient greek gate that marks the entry into Marina Grande has been here since the third century BCE.  This gate is HUGE and serves as a reminder that it was a matter of life and death depending on what side of the gate you were on.  TIP #1:  IF YOU WALK DOWN TO MARINA GRANDE FROM SORRENTO YOU CAN CATCH THE BUS BACK UP.  Busses to Piazza Tasso leave every hour from the little bus shelter by the beach.  The last bus up to Sorrento is about 8:00 pm.

The people of Marina Grande seem very traditional.  Not only in the type of work they do; like all the fishermen that unload their nets here every morning, but also the cultural traditions that have endured for centuries.  Such as every afternoon in the little square in front of the church of Sant'Anna, the older folk would gather on the benches.  Men sit on one side of the Piazzetta and women on the other; watching the village kids playing a game of football in between them.  Many of the older women dress in black as a show of mourning for the loss of a loved one.  There are many "madonelle"  or street side alters of the Virgin Mary that you pass by or are visible on buildings here in Marina Grande.

Madonelle of Marina Grande

Of course, other strong traditions in Marina Grande involve the sea.  This is still an active dock where fishing boats come to unload their catch.  Each morning the boats pull up, and the freshly caught fish are unloaded for the local restaurants to pick up.  One morning we saw some sardines being unloaded and carried into the local restaurant that our friend Simone recommended to us.  We were eating those sardines at Taverna Azzurra that very night; prepared in the local Sorrentine method.  Of course, the meal was completed with the traditional complimentary glass of homemade limoncello (my favourite tradition of all).




Another local tradition related to fisherman and the sea is, of course, the boat.  In Sorrento, there is a type of traditional boat called the "gozzi Sorrentini."  These are handmade light-weight wooden boats with triangular sails that were specially made for fishing.  The gozzo is a generic term for a wooden ship found all over southern Italy, but here in Sorrento, they are still crafted by hand.  This shop was in our small piazzelle, and the owner was in his shop day and night working hard on his beautiful boats.

Fresh Bread Delivery

This next place is the heart of modern Marina Grande.  This unassuming little shop on Via Mariana Grande is the Deco Market, where locals go shopping for their groceries.  We discovered 'The Deco' on our first night in Marina Grande when we were hunting for dinner supplies.  This place has everything you need; a small selection of local produce, dried goods, local wine and beer selection. In the back of the store, here is a meat and cheese counter that has a great local selection.  Twice a  day freshly baked bread is delivered to the store for their customers, and it was delicious!  The store is run by the Russo family and keeping with the family traditions; their son and daughter help out in the evenings.  Simone, their son, was a real joy to get to know; he is so helpful, kind and his English was excellent!  Simone recommended great local beers and wines to us, as well as giving us some sightseeing and restaurant tips.  During tourist season Simone's mother makes up fresh sandwiches every morning, they are called "panini" in Italian.  You can take them away with you for lunch during a sightseeing trip or sit on the beach and have a lovely picnic.

Of course, the real magic of Marina Grande happens in the evening.  Our evening ritual was to grab a glass of wine or limoncello from our cottage and wander across the street, sit on a bench or on the beach itself and watch the lights come on in the Bay of Naples as the sun sinks into the waves. With making Sorrento our home base for exploring Naples and the Amalfi Coast, our days were jam-packed with busses, ferries, and long days walking for hours.  We could have stayed up in busy Sorrento with the bustle of life, but it was SO lovely to return to our Marinara Sea Cottage on Via Marina Grande and just relax and listen to the waves.

  

This is "la dolce far niente" or the "sweetness of doing nothing," and it is an acquired skill. In Marina Grande, you can hone this skill to your heart's content!