A walk to Punta Campanella in Massa Lubrense

the point farthest south of the Peninsula Sorrentinae overlooking the island of Capri

Spring, with its profusion of scent and colour, has arrived; in the morning the sun rises earlier each day and in the evening it seems it doesn’t want to set. This is just the righttime to go for a lovely walk in the peace and quiet of nature, along one of our peninsula’s scenic itineraries of natural, historical  nd archaeological interest:Punta Campanella.  Our walk begins in the square in Termini; it can be reached easily via the SITA buses that leave from Sorrento station onthe Nerano route. To the right of the parish church, we take Via Campanella and, after about  400 metres, we reach a fork in the road; turning left takes us to Monte San Constanzo (another delightful spot), turning right we start the descent towards Punta Campanella. Following a road which on certain stretches seems to be carved into the rock, the landscape undergoes an extraordinary  metamorphosis right before our eyes, making us forget the buildings, streets and heavy traffic of the town. Noise gradually fades into silence and the voice of nature… to the left is the white rock of the mountain with its typical vegetation, to the right the sea, the small bays and inlets glimpsed through the rocks. Until we reach the cove of Mitigliano we see typical Mediterranean flora; near Campanella, however, there is an amazing change: the vegetation turns into less luxuriant flora, with an abundance of wild olive trees, myrtle, juniper, rosemary, everlasting, samphire and sea lavender, which seem to grow out of the rock; they are shaped by their exposure to sea breezes, modelled into unusual forms. It is here that the herring gull breeds, and in this area you may catch sight of peregrine falcons or kestrels. Reaching the very end of Punta Campanella, in a wild isolated point we can spot the remains of a 16th century tower, built where once there was a Greek  temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva. Over the centuries, either for cult purposes or to  control access  to the gulf, this tip of the Sorrento Peninsula, known as  the Ateneo Promontory, has been the site of temples and trading stations, defence works and patrician villas. Arriving at the tower, on both sides we can see two ways down to the sea: the more modern path on the right is still easy to follow, whereas the older path to the left is unsafe. At the end of this long descent, protected by a rock stack, we can just spot a vast hollow, known as the “Sirens’ cave,” and here the sea, reflecting the sun’s rays, creates a thousand hues that change from one moment to the next. The scene it offers us is amazing… in front of us there is Capri, so close that it seems you could almost reach out and touch it; behind is the bare and rugged Monte San Costanzo, and then the small bay of Ieranto. It is all incredibly beautiful, and if we are lucky enough to stay until evening, we can admire a display of fiery magnificence: the sun setting behind Capri, creating a magical exhibition of light, shade and reflections which even the greatest artist might not be able to capture on canvas. Now it is time to head back, all uphill so it takes more than an hour to return to the square in Termini. But the spectacle we have enjoyed makes the journey less tiring. It was certainly worth defending this untainted environment by its inclusion in a marine reserve, created to safeguard this area rich in history, culture, marine environments unique in the world, an unadulterated expression of geological events, Mediterranean ecology and astonishing scenery. Near Torre di Fossa Papa we find olive trees with splendid dry stone walls and coloniesof the rare plant, “Lithodora Rosmarinifolia,” similar to rosemary, which grows naturally only on the Sorrento Peninsula and in Sicily. We have almost reached Termini, and it is worth a last backward glance to fix this splendid picture in our minds: Capri, the sea, the white rock, the call of the seagulls … andthe melodic voices of the Sirens inviting us to return