Sorrento already existed when Rome was founded, and gave its name to the peninsula separating the Bay of Naples from the Bay of Salerno and in geographical terms going from Vico Equense to beyond Positano. In Roman times Sorrento was a municipium, the second highest class of city. At the end of the first millennium it was a duchy, with its own currency, until the Longobard occupation by Prince Guaimario V of Salerno and the establishment of the  Norman monarchy. The duchy of Sorrento, initially stretching from the Sarno river to the tip of the peninsula at Punta della Campanella, lasted until the Swabian dynasty, when Vico Equense became a Università. Massa Lubrense became independent in 1467 under Ferdinand I of Aragon, Piano by decree signed by Joseph Bonaparte, Meta under the Bourbons on 27 November 1819, and Sant’Agnello by decree issued by the Kingdom of Italy on 10 December 1865. In ancient times Sorrento had an agricultural and maritime economy, and was also engaged in the manufacture of small glass containers. Wine from Sorrento was considered on a par with Falerno and praised by Horace in his satires. In the second millennium A.D. mulberries were grown (for the production of silk), and later walnuts and citrus fruits. Thanks to its citrus fruits the area came to be known as the “Land where lemon trees blossom”, and today the lemons are used to produce the famous “limoncello”, enjoyed in bars and restaurants all over the world.  It is hard to find a family living on the Sorrento Coast that does not have some kind of involvement with the sea: there were once shipyards in Sorrento, Piano, Meta and Vico Equense, and in 1838 no fewer than 216 vessels were launched, 13 in the harbour of Marina Grande in Sorrento. The famous boat from Sorrento called a “gozzo” is still constructed here, built using traditional methods passed down from father to son. Marina Grande was for centuries a harbour for these boats and for fishermen, while today it is a thriving village where old traditions and tourism live side by side. Every year Sorrento hosts important events combining culture and tourism, the driving force of its economy. For over forty years the Siren Land has played an important role in world of cinematography hosting the “Incontri Internazionali del Cinema” and “Giornate Professionali del Cinema”. It has also been a promoter of classical music, organizing performances by some of the most prestigious musicians and orchestras in the world in the extraordinary scenario of the Chiostro di San Francesco. Many other sporting, artistic and cultural events attract throngs of visitors to Sorrento, including the Caruso Award, the Festival of Music and Theatre, the Antique Book and Print Fair, the Eduardo De Martino Yachting Prize, the Mid-summer Food Festival, and  Christmas in Sorrento with the Nativity Scene Contest. Musical entertainment is provided by pubs and nightclubs in the style of “Torna a Surriento”.  The song has come to symbolize the one hundred years that the people of    Sorrento have been welcoming their visitors, and visitors have been falling in love with the Siren Land and its coast stretching from Punta di Scutolo to Capo di Sorrento, where you can still find the ruins of many Roman villas from the Imperial age. It was during the era of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that Sorrento began to attracted a huge number of visitors, including political figures, members of the establishment, as well as the many authors and artists who immortalized it in words and pictures. In his “Travels in Two Sicilies”, written towards the end of the eighteenth  entury, the Englishman Henry Swinburne described the enchanting scenery and artistic treasures of Sorrento. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche found the town beneficial to his health, and it was in Sorrento that Richard Wagner completed his “Parsifal”. The greatest Russian artist of the nineteenth century, Silvester Shchedrin, whose paintings of the land and sea around Sorrento can be found in some  of the most prestigious museums in the world, died and was buried in Sorrento in 1830. During his second stay in the birthplace of poet Torquato Tasso in November 1932, Maxim Gorky founded nothing less than a Russian colony. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen sojourned here twice and this year sees the celebration (in conjunction with Norway) of the centenary of his death. So many painters found inspiration  for their masterpieces on the Sorrento Coast, just as the works of so many writers and poets were inspired by the beauty of the landscape. Today Sorrento can provide accommodation for eleven thousand people in over one hundred hotels, holiday villages, campsites and self-catering apartments. There are no fewer than four five-star establishments and just as many “historic hotels”, a conference  centre (one of the best in Italy) and many venues offering conference facilities. The Siren Land also has a special place in the history of Neapolitan music, with approximately one hundred songs dedicated to Sorrento. The town’s theme tune is obviously none other than the one-hundred-yearold “Torna a Surriento”, sung by all the greats both in Italy and abroad, but many other songs have been composed by great poets and musicians, including Lucio Dalla’s “Caruso”. The poet Aniello Califano (“Serenata a Surriento”, “‘O surdato nnamurato”) was from Sorrento, as was the musician Salo d’Esposito (“Anema e core”, “Me so’ mbriacato ‘e sole”). The tradition of the Tarantella is also still very much alive. The great Enrico Caruso came to Sorrento in search of peace to regain his strength, and stayed until just a few hours before he died. If tourism is the mainstay of Sorrento’s economy, the role of the craft industry, particularly marquetry and lace making, also has a long history. The origins of woodworking in Sorrento  date back to the first half of  the nineteenth century, when in 1830 Antonino Damora and Luigi Gargiulo introduced the art of marquetry and brought it popularity, making desk articles, pictures, trays  and miniature chests of drawers in the early workshops.