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This runaway slave led a revolt of the oppressed from headquarters on Vesuvius.

Few know that there’s a pleasant alternative to the crowded main beach at Positano, with its rows of sunbeds and umbrellas. To get to Fornillo, head west on the path past the ’O Guarracino restaurant, around the cliff. It’s a rocky beach, overlooked by two towers, but there’s a café-restaurant and facilities (see Positano).

The theologian (1225–74) was often a guest at San Domenico Maggiore, headquarters for religious study at the University of Naples.

The writer (69–140) is famous for his Twelve Caesars , scandalous accounts of the first Roman emperors.

Fringe, experimental and the best of new international theatre is the keynote here.

The oldest working opera theatre in Europe, 40 years older than Milan’s La Scala.

Actually an appendage to the Palazzo Reale, built by order of King Charles, this opera house predates the famous La Scala in Milan by some 40 years. Officially opened on 4 November 1737, it has never ceased to be one of the most important and innovative opera houses in the world. The interior was originally done up in the Bourbon colours of silver, gold and sky blue, but after being rebuilt following a fire in 1816 the colour scheme is now mostly gold and red, though no less sumptuous. It was compared by French writer Stendhal to an Oriental emperor’s palace. A museum is due to open soon.

The famed Costiera Amalfitana lives up to the highest expectations in every way. The winding corniche road offers striking panoramas, and some of the towns seem to defy gravity clinging to impossibly steep slopes. Beauty and history are everywhere, tastefully blended with the vita mondana (sophisticated life) of Italian resorts. There’s not much in the way of beaches, but on the whole, this perpendicular paradise never fails to delight.

Campania suffered a chaotic period between the 5th and 6th centuries, caused by barbarian invasions, the Gothic war and the Longobard conquest. However, with the reconquest of the coastal areas by the Byzantines, Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, Salerno and other cities were set up as dukedoms and flourished until the 11th century.