Italian cruiser Amalfi

Amalfi was a Pisa-class armored cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) built in the first decade of the 20th century. During the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12, Amalfi operated with the Italian fleet off Tripoli in September 1911 and participated in the amphibious landings at Derna in October. In April 1912, Amalfi and sister ship Pisa led the way in attacks on Turkish forts in the Dardanelles. After the rest of the fleet retired later in the month, the pair of armored cruisers remained in the area to attack Turkish communications facilities. After the Treaty of Lausanne signed in October 1912 ended the war, Amalfi escorted the Italian king and queen on the royal yacht to Germany and Sweden during a 1913 visit.

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Italy declined to join her Triple Alliance partners, Germany and Austria-Hungary. The country was eventually persuaded to side with the Entente Powers and declared war on neighboring Austria-Hungary in May 1915. After the Austro-Hungarian Navy raided the Italian coast with relative impunity in May and June, Amalfi, Pisa, and two other armored cruisers were sent to Venice to thwart future sorties by the Austrians. Shortly after their arrival, the ships were sent—in a show of force—to patrol near the main Austrian naval base at Pola on the night of 6/7 July 1915. During Amalfi's return from that mission, she was torpedoed by Austria-Hungarian submarine U-26 (in fact SM UB-14 flying the Austro-Hungarian flag, since Germany and Italy were not yet at war) and sunk with the loss of 67 men. Amalfi's loss caused the Italians to keep the other armored cruisers at Venice in port for most of the next year before they were eventually relocated.

Amalfi

Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy.

Amalfi is the main town of the coast on which it is located, named Costiera Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast), and is today an important tourist destination together with other towns on the same coast, such as Positano, Ravello and others. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

History

First mentioned in the 6th century, Amalfi soon afterwards acquired importance as a maritime power, trading grain from its neighbours, salt from Sardinia and slaves from the interior, and even timber, in exchange for the gold dinars minted in Egypt and Syria, in order to buy the Byzantine silks that it resold in the West. Grain-bearing Amalfi traders enjoyed privileged positions in the Islamic ports, Fernand Braudel notes. The Amalfi tables (Tavole amalfitane) provided a maritime code that was widely used by the Christian port cities. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, while most of Italy worked in a barter economy. In the 8th and 9th century, when Mediterranean trade revived it shared with Gaeta the Italian trade with the East, while Venice was in its infancy, and in 848 its fleet went to the assistance of Pope Leo IV against the Saracens.

Amalfi (disambiguation)

Amalfi is an Italian town.

Amalfi may also refer to:

Amalfi, Antioquia

Amalfi is a town and municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Northeastern Antioquia.

Coordinates: 6°55′N 75°05′W / 6.917°N 75.083°W / 6.917; -75.083