The Apennine spur stretching between Positano and Salerno gives rise to a very jagged coastline which does not allow for the construction of large towns. Only at the end of certain ravines do the cliffs taper off and form beaches.
Despite the ruggednes of this landscape, traces of prehistoric settlements do exist. The archeologicals finds in the upper strata of the grotto at La Porta near Positano date back in to the Mesolithic age (8500 year ago).
Italy weather: Amalfi coast weather
The long isolation of the Amalfi coast, which until the last century
could only be reached by sea , has meant that numeruos traditions have stood the rest of time. This is evident in the field of architecture where the moast characteristic
Fruit bouquets
feature is the vaulted roof structure. However, those against it point out that there was no need to wait for the expansion of the Arab world to learn a technique which had already been widely consolidated inthe western Roman tradition:given the lack of suitable material on the Amalfi Coast to make tiles and weathering material for roofs, it had simply become a necessity.
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Positano The town is spread out over one of the slopes of Mount Comune, softening its craggy outline. A single road via Pasitea, winds its way from the Town Hall to 
the
Piazzetta dei Mulini and at thejunction of the road to Amalfi, continuing uphill, it turns into via Cristoforo Colombo. Looking down at the town from above, the eye becomes enchanted by an 
intricate network of narrowpicturesque steps, which create the impression of Nativity crib