Praiano occupies the feature of coastal amalfitana between Positano and Conca of Marini, on the two sides of Capo sottle. The center of Praiano is found on the east of the cape, between 80 and 180 meters above sea level. The name then derives from the ancient Pelagianum (open sea) transformed in the Middle Ages in Plagianum and in Praiano in Italian. To the times of the Amalfitana Republic, Praiano was chosen like summery residence from the Dogi di Amalfi. In the period of Angiò dynasty it became Universitas (that in the South indicated the municipalities with partial autonomy the central power and own organs of government) by means of Charles I of Sicily. In the past it was famous for its production of the silk and the spun ones.
In the course of the history it is cited many times in documents, like in the late Middle Ages the two country houses of Praiano and Greater Vettica; torre Assiola, said the “Sciola”, built by Carlo I of Sicily in 1278; in the 1400-1500 it is sais about shops to the Praia.
The city has conserved until the XIX century approximately the activities tied to the commerce and the peach of the coral. A small city devoted also to the working of the linen and the hairnets for hair.
The suggested walks are the following ones:
Navy of Praia is an appreciated bathing locality, with strip club, restaurants where it is possible to eat fish, hotels and beach establishments. With a small trip by boat, it is possible moreover to visit the coast all around, in particular the evocative Coves of Suppraiano, the Cove of the African; to reach Cove of the Gavitella, the reef of Tower of Degree and the solitary beach “the Praie”. On the cape there is the Tower of Sea, of medieval origin and beneath, the charming path of the Reef of Praia, called from FAI “Place of the Heart”. Along this evocative narrow lane it is possible to admire the coast until Conca De Marini, the Coast of Praiano and on the bottom the rock of the Isca.
The baroque church of S. Luca Evangelista is dedicated to the Saint patron of Praiano, erected on a precedence structure of XII the century, goes back 1588 per year, restored in 1772.
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