The valleys north of the towns of Amalfi, Minori, Positano and Maiori, as well as the urban fabric of Vietri sul Mare, are scattered with numerous testimonies of the ancient proto-industrial activity that flourished in these areas.

In fact, the transformation of the grain that arrived here from all over southern Italy took place in the mills that exploited the driving force of the waters flowing from the mountains and used the sea breeze to dry the famous “maccaroni”; the same water was also used to start the machines for the production of paper from the cotton of the rags that were beaten by the piles of wood.

The territory of Vietri sul Mare, on the other hand, is dotted with the “faenzere”, the workshops that transformed clay into ceramic masterpieces.

Within these complexes, ancestors of modern ceramic factories, not only the commonly used ceramics took shape but above all the “langelle”, the containers that were used to transport local products, including by sea, from wine to flour.

The gateway to the Amalfi itinerary also allows interchange with other thematic itineraries and also offers the possibility of visiting not only the structures of the ancient paper mills, now abandoned, but also of still seeing a working structure and all the manufacturing processes at the Museum of Paper.

To visit the paper mills, which are all located along the course of the Canneto or Chiarito torrent, it is advisable to go to Pontone a Scala and go along the Valle delle Ferriere. The faience factories of Vietri, on the other hand, can be traced within the town (see the map attached to the text on Industrial Archaeology).