The hill village of Pastena is only 1 km from Amalfi. It is the village closest to the city walls from where you can admire one of the most beautiful views in the area.
The name of the village probably derives from ‘pastinato’, a term used since the Middle Ages to indicate a particular agricultural contract that monasteries or noble families stipulated with their settlers; by virtue of this contract, the farmers undertook to improve the land they received by building ‘macerine’, dry-stone walls to contain the terracing, and by introducing new crops of vines, chestnuts and olives. The settler had to pay the owners a part of the produce from the land, and could build himself a house to live in with his family.
The place name was first recorded in a document from the year 860. It was referred to as the comes annalis Costatino de Pastina.
The view from the church of Madonna Assunta, recognisable by its unique sea-green majolica bell tower, is characterised by terraces and small houses typical of the coastal area. Another visit worthy of mention is the 14th-century Church of the Madonna del Carmine, also known as the Church of S. Maria del Pino, which houses the fresco of the ‘Flight into Egypt’ and several 19th-century statues of saints.
