If the towns along the Amalfi Coast were movie stars, Positano would surely be the Oscar winner, the fashion icon that can't help but be admired and copied.

Besides, one doesn't become an international tourism star by chance and beauty alone cannot explain the never ending charm of Positano.

To define her as a beautiful city is a bit demeaning; it isn't just a ‘pretty place'.

Positano is enchantment, charm, sorcery, the call of the Sirens.

That sweetness, that slight sorcery that captures the hearts of travelers and compels them to stay, in order to discover nostalgia or to return every possible chance.

Many are the travelers who- in every epoch - have succumbed to her charms; the city that legend claims was built by Neptune in order to imprison the nymph Pasitea that he loved so dearly.

Positano is included in the list of ‘ The most romantic places in the world' teeming with splendid residences and historic villas that give testimony of how difficult it is to tear oneself away from the ‘ vertical town', that grows houses one on top of each other.

One is mesmerized by the marvelous cascade of houses-hugging one to another- dominates the infinite blue of the sky and sea.

The little streets, the staircases, the colourful bazaar-like quality of the shops that stretch out from Chiesa Madre or the Piazza dei Mulini ‘discovered' by the military personnel of NATO and the north- European aristocrats in flight from the World War and quickly called home by the most sophisticated and cultured itself . The cultural calendar, the concerts performed, and the artistic exhibitions held in the town are as popular as the night life in the bars, wine shops and tea rooms of the town that attract an international clientele all year long.

There are few communities as international or cosmopolitan as that of Positano and the surrounding area.

The cultural mix that inhabits the town has , over the years, removed every residue of intolerance and provincialism.

Like the nearby Ravello and Capri it no longer belongs to itself and its inhabitants.

It has become a place for the soul, for the world, and as such, it lends itself to be flavoured by visited and celebrated.

For the people who live here it is a great responsibility and a deeply-rooted awareness the pushes the Positanesi to be protagonist in business initiatives and high quality tourist services.

The legendary luxury hotels and residences that are offered on the market are worth their price and the Positanesi hospitality is among the best in the world.

It is a'killer cocktail'; the warmth , the effusiveness and the typical Mediterranean refinement are combined with entrepreneurial spirit, discretion and know-how typical of Anglosaxon and north-European cultures.

The rest is added by nature- truly magnificent- the atmosphere of historical residences salvaged in every small detail and the cuisine, the craftsmen, the commerce that find, in Positano,their maximum international expression.

There are few disadvantages, and if during some periods of the year the prices and crowds seem exaggerated, Positano is always ready to regale a smile, an angle, or a refuge to everyone; it always knows how to beg pardon. If it couldn't do that, it wouldn't be a real star, would it?

Picures from Positano