Cetara: The Amalfi Coast Village That Hasn't Sold Its Soul
Autore: La Redazione di www.tourleaderpro.com
Cetara is the most genuinely Amalfitan village left on the Costiera. While Positano became a fashion destination and Ravello a luxury retreat and Amalfi itself a cathedral-and-souvenir experience, Cetara remained a fishing village. The boats still go out before dawn. The nets still come in at sunrise. The colatura di alici — the fermented anchovy sauce that is one of the great Italian condiments, descended directly from the Roman garum — is still made here in the old way, in wooden barrels, for months. The village has 2,000 inhabitants, a medieval watchtower, a small beach surrounded by colourful houses, and the best anchovies in Italy. It receives a fraction of the visitors that Positano receives. This is entirely explicable and entirely unjust.
Colatura di Alici: What It Is and Why It Matters
The colatura di alici di Cetara is an anchovy-derived liquid condiment — deep amber-brown, intensely savoury, with a complexity that soy sauce approximates and umami supplements approach but neither matches. Anchovies are salted in wooden barrels in September (when the autumn catch is at its finest), weighted, and left to ferment for 12-18 months. The liquid that drains from the barrels — pressed out through a small hole in the bottom — is the colatura. A few drops on spaghetti with garlic and parsley, with no other seasoning, produce a dish that tastes of the sea in every possible sense. The colatura was given IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) status in 2020. It is produced exclusively in Cetara. You can buy it in every alimentari in the village for €8-15 for a small bottle — the best souvenir from the Amalfi Coast by a significant margin.
The Village of Cetara
The physical layout of Cetara follows the narrow gorge of a seasonal stream that cuts through the limestone cliffs — houses climbing the valley walls, the church of San Pietro Apostolo at the upper end, the beach and the fishing port at the lower end, and the Torre di Cetara (a 14th-century defensive tower, the most complete on the coast) sitting above the beach. The beach (Spiaggia di Cetara) is small, partly pebbly, with the characteristic combination of turquoise Tyrrhenian water and dramatic cliff backdrop that the Amalfi Coast offers. It is not enormous — maybe 150 metres of usable beach — and fills up in July and August, but the morning and late afternoon are manageable.
Questions About Cetara
How do I get to Cetara?
SITA bus from Amalfi (20 min) or Salerno (30 min). By car: the SS163 coast road, with parking in the layby above the village (the village itself is effectively pedestrian). Ferry services from Salerno in summer make Cetara accessible without the coast road traffic. Cetara is 18km east of Amalfi and 25km west of Salerno. From Positano or Ravello it requires passing through Amalfi.
Where to eat in Cetara?
Several restaurants in the village make the colatura the centre of the menu — spaghetti alla colatura, linguine al tonno di Cetara (local tuna, also fished here), alici marinate (fresh anchovy in citrus and herbs). The Ristorante Il Convento and Al Convento are the best known. For a more informal experience, the bars on the small piazza by the beach serve excellent fried fish plates from midday. Prices are significantly below Positano and Ravello levels.
Is Cetara better than Positano?
Different. Positano is spectacular scenographically and completely oriented toward tourism. Cetara is less dramatic visually but more genuine in character. If you want the postcard, go to Positano. If you want the Amalfi Coast that existed before tourism became the primary industry, spend a morning in Cetara, eat spaghetti alla colatura, and buy a bottle to take home.
What is the history of anchovy fishing in Cetara?
Cetara's anchovy tradition has been documented since at least the medieval period — a 9th-century document records the village's fishing rights in the area. The technique of salting anchovies and collecting the fermented liquid (garum in Roman times, colatura in modern terminology) is likely continuous from the Roman period through the medieval Duchy of Amalfi and to the present. The 14th-century tower was built specifically to protect the fishing village from Saracen raids — the anchovies and their products were valuable enough to warrant military defence.
Can I visit the colatura producers in Cetara?
Some producers (Nettuno, Armatore) offer small-scale visits or at minimum sell directly from their premises. The production period (September-October for the salting, then the months-long waiting) is not visually dramatic but the barrels in the cellars are worth seeing if you're interested in traditional food production. Ask in the village for current arrangements — this is a small enough community that asking in the right bar will get you to the right person.
Curiosità su Cetara
Il tonno rosso del Mediterraneo — la stessa specie (Thunnus thynnus) che veniva cacciata nelle antiche tonnare — viene ancora pescato tradizionalmente da alcune imbarcazioni di Cetara. La tonnara di Cetara (la rete da pesca al tonno, diversa dalla mattanza siciliana) utilizzava una tecnica di rete a corridoio che guidava i tonni verso una camera finale. La pesca del tonno a Cetara è documentata dal medioevo. Oggi il tonno locale viene venduto fresco nei ristoranti del paese e in conserva (sott'olio) nelle botteghe alimentari — una delle migliori conserve di tonno disponibili in Italia, con un sapore completamente diverso dal tonno industriale delle grandi marche.
Cetara e la Costiera Amalfitana: Il Confronto Onesto
La Costiera Amalfitana come destinazione turistica si divide in due categorie: i luoghi che esistono per il turismo (Positano, Ravello in certi sensi) e i luoghi che il turismo ha trovato ma non ha trasformato completamente (Cetara, Minori, Maiori, Tramonti nell'interno). La seconda categoria offre la Costiera che era prima che diventasse famosa — il paesaggio è identico, il mare è identico, la cucina è migliore, i prezzi sono inferiori, e la proporzione turisti-locali è invertita rispetto alle destinazioni di punta. Per chi visita la Costiera Amalfitana con l'intenzione di capirla piuttosto che fotografarla, Cetara è obbligatoria. Vedi anche: Amalfi Coast · Furore · Ravello.