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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Santa Maria Assunta

Santa Maria Assunta was originally the abbey of Positano's 10th-century Benedictine monastery. Romanesque style, it was abandoned, along with the lower town, when pirates ruled. In the 18th century, when that danger had abated, the church got a Baroque makeover and a gorgeous dome of yellow, green and blue Majolica tiles. It’s beautifully situated right above the beach:


 

 

The interior is lovely and over the altar is a 13th- century Byzantine icon called ‘the Black Madonna.’




On the piazza in front, there are some fine contemporary mosaics; I particularly liked the juxtaposition of this majestic crow and his country cousin, the pigeon:



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