time : 3h outbound, 2 1/2 hours return.
The walk follows the river Canneto, through the valley which, up to a few decades ago, was the industrial zone of Amalfi for the paper mills and ironworks.
From the centre of Amalfi follow the main street up for about 900 metres as far as the Museo della Carta (the paper museum on the left) Some 10 meters beyond, take a right turning upwards and then immediately left into Via Madonna del Rosario. From here onwards you cannot go wrong. Proceed up the main street leading into the valley which opens out before you.
Along the route stand the remains of some of the paper mills: the Cartiere Lucibello, at the bottom of the valley standing over the stream, the Cartiere Nolli, now completely overgrown , the Catriere Marino and the Cartiere Milano which was in function until the 60s. Further ahead you will come upon the remains of a hydroelectric plant and at the end of the path which follows the watercourse the somewhat sombre remains of the antique iron works from which the valley takes its name.
From the XIV century the ferrous mineral was extracted and forged in this plant and transported by the cargo ships of the and Amalfitan fleet as far as Elba, Puglia and Calabria. The iron works offered employment to the inhabitants of the surrounding area; the workmen from Scala were specialists in the production of charcoal, the precious fuel for the forges; the workmen from Pogerola on the opposite face of the valley provided the necessary labour, or else were employed in small workshops forging “centrelle” the typical nails of Pogerola.
The production continued up until the beginning of last century, when it began slowing down because non longer economically feasible hence the inevitable general abandon of the forges and consequently of the valley itself. However this dereliction was not entirely harmful to the valley as the spontaneous luxuriant vegetation consequently sprung back to claim its place creating the wild backdrop so dear to many of the romantics travelling here :Shinkel, Hare, Richter and Goethe to name a few who immortalized the area in their works. The vegetation of the Valle delle Ferriere, owing to its particular subtropical microclimate caused by the torrents and the damp sea breeze, has in fact be closely studied since 1859 and also by the famous German naturalist Karl Haekel in 1859 for its particular botanic interest: cyclamen, wild orchids, Pterris vittata, Pinguicola hirtiflora ( a carnivorous plant),Erica terminalis and a rare species of giant fern which has origins in the Tertiary period, Woodwardia Radicans or Felce Bulbifera Gigante.
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