Angela, now I'm in love with that piazza e chiesa! Wow, that's my kind of thing: stunningly beautiful and sophisticated, but not overwhelmingly luxuriant and majestic, tasteful art that invites you and embraces you, not "oppresses" you with its glory. The place seems so cozy! Thank you for showing it to us, now I really want to include it in my plans when (God willing that will happen) I make my first trip to Italy.
As I've often said, the Amalfi Coast and Capri are, imo, among the top most beautiful places in the world. However, all the towns, including Amalfi, are handkerchief sized. It's hard to believe that such a tiny place was such a mighty seafaring and trading center, which is why they adopted all that Moorish stonework, of course. It makes more sense that San Marco in Venice is so Byzantine looking given the size of its dealings with the Byzantines over the centuries.
Anyway, it's definitely worth a visit, but I would suggest spring and fall because with the small spaces, the heat and the tourists, I find it oppressive.
If we do go in the summer we stay in the much more spread out and modern Sorrento, and then just take a bus or boat to the town of our choice for the day, and we tend to go either very early morning or late afternoon and take lunch and some time at the pool during the middle of the day.
I have a thing for cloisters, and there are beautiful ones in the cathedral of Amalfi.
There are certain smaller towns in Italy which I love: Amalfi and Ravello, the latter with its magnificent English and Italian gardens, are two, Santa Margherita on the Riviera, Cortona, Perugia, Todi, Spello, Assisi in early morning or late afternoon, some towns on the lakes, Forte dei Marmi for summer beach bumming etc.
Even in the larger cities there are some gems which hardly get visited however. I told you I have a thing about cloisters.
13th century cloisters: San Giovanni in Laterano
Cloisters of San Paolo fuori le muri
Every time I'm in Rome, I go to San Clemente al Laterano. It teaches me to take the long view.
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The Basilica of Saint Clement (Italian: Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) the present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of the Middle Ages; (2) beneath the present basilica is a 4th-century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the 1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum; (3) the home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of republican era villa and warehouse that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 AD."
Roads are architecture too. I always like to take a stroll along the Appian Way when I'm in Rome, sometimes a couple of times:
No, I've never heard anyone ask me "Quo Vadis".
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