Ravello was founded in the 5th century as a shelter place against the barbarian invasions which marked the end of the Western Roman Empire. It was populated, round about the year 1000, by a group of nobles from the Maritime Republic of Amalfi who had rebelled against the authority of the Doge based in Amalfi. The rebels made a good choice when choosing the site in which to built their refuge: Ravello rises in an easily defendable position.

The history of Ravello was strictly connected with the glorious and tormented history of the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, whose lot she followed. Its economic and political decline began in the Norman period and became dramatic in the course of the seventeenth century: having lost its prosperous economy, Ravello had only... all the rest: an incomparable position from the naturalistic point of view and architectural and artistic marvels built during the centuries of splendour.

The main sights are: the Duomo of Pantaleone created in 1272 by Nicolò di Bartolomeo from Foggia: Villa Rufolo built by Nicola Rufolo in 1270, one of the richest Patricians of Ravello, on a ledge and it has become a famous attraction for thousands of visitors and the Villa Cimbrone known for the Terrace of the Infinite.