Explore Pompeii ruins and Sorrento highlights on a private tour with Limoncello tasting

Named after Sorrento's patron saint, the town's oldest church barely looks like a church at all from the outside. The interior paints a more ecclesial picture with its Roman artefacts, dark medieval paintings, gilded ceiling, and the oddity of two whale ribs in the lobby by the front door. Apparently, the much-loved saint performed numerous miracles, including one in which he rescued a child from a whale’s stomach. The saint’s bones lie beneath the baroque interior in an 18th-century crypt. The crypt also contains hundreds of silver medallions, many of them votives from shipwrecked sailors.

The Cathedral of Saints Philip and James, commonly known as the Sorrento Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Sorrento, Italy. The cathedral is dedicated to Saints Philip the Apostle and James the Just, and has been the seat of the Archbishop of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia since 1986. It was previously the seat of the bishops and archbishops of Sorrento.

The 14th-century cloisters of San Francesco by the Villa Comunale public park now belong to an art school, and are a popular setting for weddings. Arrive early to beat the crowds and check out any exhbiits on offer. The monastery was actually founded in the 8th cetnury, but it wasn't until the late 1300s that it got its lovely courtyard, complete with criss-cross pattern in the tufo-lined window archways on two walls (the other two have rounded arches on octagonal pilasters. The cloisters also make use of spoglia (recycled architectural "spoils," pilfered from ruined ancient buildings), such as the columns in the corners. The attached church of San Francesco dates to the 16th century and has a lovely 17th century wooden St. Francis with the Crucified Christ on the first chapel on the right.

Ruins of temples, municipal buildings & the basilica in the social & civic center of the Roman town.

Piazza Tasso is a central place and square in Sorrento in the south of Italy. The square is named after the poet Torquato Tasso. In the main square, well known as Largo of the Caste, is the Baroque Church del Carmine, within its interior painting by Onofrio Avellino. On the square stands a statue of S. Antonino Abbate. From the square, you come onto the shopping street Via San Cesareo. Also near Piazza Tasso is the Palazzo Correale now also a museum, Museum Correale.

Pompeii, Italian Pompei, preserved ancient Roman city in Campania, Italy, 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Naples, at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius. It was built on a spur formed by a prehistoric lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarnus (modern Sarno) River.

Sorrento is a coastal town in southwestern Italy, facing the Bay of Naples on the Sorrentine Peninsula. Perched atop cliffs that separate the town from its busy marinas, it’s known for sweeping water views and Piazza Tasso, a cafe-lined square. The historic center is a warren of narrow alleys that's home to the Chiesa di San Francesco, a 14th-century church with a tranquil cloister.

The Basilica, with its extension of 1,500 square metres, was the most sumptuous building of the Forum, and its space was used to carry out business and for the administration of justice. It is accessed from the Forum through five entrances separated by tuff pillars; inside it is divided into three naves with two rows of brick columns with Ionic capitals. A richly decorated suggestum, where judges sat while judicial affairs were managed, is located at the centre of the short western side. The space was enhanced with an equestrian statue, whereas the walls are richly decorated with stucco like large blocks of marble. The Basilica is dated back to 130-120 BC and is one of the oldest examples of this type of building in the entire Roman world. It was excavated since the 19th century, when investigations in the Forum square area began.

Vallone dei Mulini or Valle dei Mulini (known in English as Valley of the Mills) is a historic valley in Sorrento, Italy. The flour mills, built from stone as far back as the 13th century. Its name derived from its beginning function: to grind grain. The valley originates from the release of waters into a tufa plain about 37,000 years ago, following the eruption of the Campi Flegrei. A sawmill was, providing sawn wood. It was in operation until the beginning of the tenth century. In 1866, Piazza Tasso was established, and it caused the mill and the surrounding sea to be isolated. The building was closed and abandoned in the 1940s.

This lofty park is more about vistas than greenery, perched atop Sorrento's famous cliffs with commanding views across the bay to Mt Vesuvius. With its operatic buskers and a small bar, it's particularly popular at sunset.