The very south region of Sorrento Peninsula is called Punta Campanella, which is separated from the island of Capri by a sea strait called Bocca Piccola.
The name derives from the habit to warn of the arrival of Saracen ships by ringing a little bell inside Torre Minerva, which was built by Roberto D'Angiò in 1335.
An imaginative story tells that the name Punta Campanella derives from the bell that the Saracens robbed from the Church of Sant'Antonino in Sorrento and that they threw in the sea by
the coast to take flight quicker. Since then on February 14th it is told that the bell rings from the deep blue sea. In very ancient times this area was devoted to the sirens for the Greeks and to the Goddesses Atena and Minerva for the Romans.
Maybe the ancient temple dedicated to the sirens was then dedicated to the goddesses and the way leading to this area was then called Via Minerva and nowadays it is still possible to admire the stone paving typical of Roman architecture. But the modern road is long and tortuous to walk. It is recommendable to follow the way by sea.
The hill overlooking Punta Campanella is Mount San Costanzo, 497 meters high, on the top of which there is a byzantine hermitage, to where the local population of Termini take the statue of their patron saint San Costanzo in procession each year. In 1997 this area has been recovered under the name of the Protected Marine Area of Punta Campanella, which contains the coasts of Positano, Massa Lubrense, Sorrento, Piano di Sorrento and Vico Equense for a length of 25 miles.
