entry Jun 2014 update Jan
2016
Mt. Faito & the
Regional Park
of the Lattari Mountains
A
winter shot of Mt. Faito with snow. The town of
Castellammare is visible on the left at sea
level. Sorrento is a few miles farther out
the peninsula to the right. The photo is shot from
Naples. The red building in the foreground is the
Nunziatella military academy. Line-of-sight
distance across the bay to Mt. Faito is about 15
miles (24 km). Mt. Vesuvius is out of sight to the
left of the photo and only about half that
distance from Naples.
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The mountains that form the backbone
of the Sorrentine peninsula are called the Lattari
mountains; they are bounded by the gulf of Naples on
the western side and the gulf of Salerno on the east.
The Lattari are the western extension of the Picentine
mountains of the Campanian Apennines. The name Lattari
derives from the Latin lactis-"milk,"
in this case referring to the flocks of goats that
grazed in the area. The name occurs quite often and
prominently in history, the earliest and perhaps
best-known occurrence being the Battle of Mons
Lactarius in 553 AD, the battle that marked the final defeat of the Goths in
Italy, ending the devastating Gothic wars. It took
place on the slopes near the modern town of Lettere
(same 'milk' etymology), a site that is well-visible
from everywhere in the bay of Naples.
That site is just north of the highest point in
the Lattari chain, Mt. Faito. At an elevation of 1,131
meters (c. 3400 feet), Faito is just shy of nearby Mt.
Vesuvius (1281 m./3843 feet). The other big difference
is that Vesuvius is on a plain and is a volcano; Faito
is not. The Lattari chain is pretty solid limestone,
the result of tectonic upthrust ages ago. On both
sides of the Lattari chain, there are steep cliffs
dropping down to the sea. The name Faito comes from faggio
(or faggeto), the beech tree. Some of the
trees are said to be 400-hundred years old and have a
diameter of six meters (18 feet).
The
park is the area bounded by red lines.
Mt.Faito is the black dot.

As indicated in the greeting mosaic at the
Faito summit, Monte Faito is within the boundaries of the Regional Park
of the Lattari Mountains. That park has existed since
2003; it covers some 160 sq. km (61 sq miles) and
encompasses about half of the Sorrento-Amalfi peninsula
(as far out as the town of Piano di Sorrento); it
extends through the hills over to the waters of the
Amalfi Coast on the gulf of Salerno and includes
well-known tourist draws such as Positano, Amalfi and
Ravello plus the many smaller seaside and hill
communities, 27 towns in all. The park authority
oversees an extensive network of well-marked hiking
trails (photos below). All in all, it is an ambitiously
large chunk of territory to protect especially since the
ecology and considerable natural beauty are already
burdened by pre-existing (before the park) stresses of
overbuilding, especially along the coastline. Monte
Faito has much to offer but local sources lament that
the area is getting short-changed in terms of regional
monies that have so much else to do. There are fewer
than 100 full-time residents at the summit community of
Mt. Faito. It is true that some newer villas and hotels
have sprung up, but there are many other things to be
taken into consideration —getting up there, for one
thing. The cabin-lift (photo, below) (built in
1952) has a long and notorious reputation of being
on-again/off-again. (See update, below.) It is owned and
operated by the Circumvesuviana
railway and has often gone months of being out of
service because of maintenance problems. Beyond that,
the old Bourbon road that used to wind up from
Castellammare at the bottom still does but is in
terrible shape. There is a modern paved road, but it is
often congested during the period when most tourists
might like to tote some money up there and spend it. And
so forth and so on.
These
are various sites within the regional park, not just
at Mt. Faito. (photos by Parco regionale dei Monti
Lattari)
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The cabin lift up to Mt.
Faito with Castellammare
directly below. Mt. Vesuvius is in the
background.
(photo:
summitpost.org) (update
directly below)
Traditionally, the area on the way up to the
summit was a target for pilgrims and hermits, and even
today, you hear that this cave or that one was where
this or that saint rested. I walked up and heard tell
of a hermit that still lived up there. (I didn't find
him, so he must have heard me lumbering through the
underbrush.) The very scenic cabin lift that goes to
the top, leaving from the town of Castellammare, is, as noted,
iffy. The town of Castellammare was the most important
ship-building facility in the old kingdom of Naples
and owes its existence to the heavily wooded mountains
above it. The abundance of wood suited to building
ships is what impelled king Ferdinand of Naples to
open the facility in 1783. (See this link for more on
the tradition of ship building
in Naples). The build-up of snow and ice at the higher
elevations that lasted into the summer months also
proved convenient for conserving foodstuffs. The
mountain also serves the Italian Radio and Television
network as an antenna site.
update:
added Jan 17, 2016
The cabin-lift (image directly
above) was
built in 1952 and is
certainly one of the most scenic in Italy (you see Mt.
Vesuvius, the entire Gulf of Naples and all the islands). As noted in the
first item (above) it has a sketchy record of
reliable service. Word now comes that it will soon be
back in service. They say it will be up and running
for the summer season this year. They've got the new
cable, they've got the money (1.5 million euros for
2016, 2017 and 2018), the construction sites are open
and workers are scampering about even as we speak. (I
have a feeling that if the budget is for three years,
it will take them at least that long to finish, but
what do I know?) When it opens, it will
be again be a grand attraction and an economic boon to the
isolated community of Monte Faito
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