The Sentiero delle Formichelle (Path of the Formichelle) is an ancient pedestrian path that connects Tramonti to the near sea resorts of Maiori and Minori.
It runs through an area full of lemon trees and its name is connected to this particularity.
The Formichelle in fact were the women lemon bearers who slowly, with a basket of about 80kg on their heads, in single file, carried the freshly picked lemons towards Maiori and Minori.
This was the work most practiced by women on the Amalfi Coast until the 1970s. It was a very hard job, in some ways exhausting, but they carried it out with surprising naturalness. In fact “Sentiero delle Formichelle” is a tribute to the women who over the centuries have distinguished themselves for the abnegation with which they have allowed the transportation of local products, particularly lemons, through the roughness of the territory. We are talking about a story that lasts since the mists of time, which is still present in the historical memory of the inhabitants of this magnificent part of Italy.
The path begins in Paterno S. Elia, a village of Tramonti, in front of the homonymous church, where it crosses with the Path of the 13 Churches (310 CAI)
and continues towards the coast through the ‘ancient path of connection that there was between the hinterland and the coastal area, here ends his race, grafting in the Path of Lemons, which, traveled in turn, will lead the’ hiker in the villages of Maiori and / or Minori according to the direction that will be chosen.
A special thanks to our friend and collaborator Matteo Giordano.
Route type: dirt road
Water: at the start and along the streams you’ll find on the trail
