Trade exchanges of yesterday and today: from the great merchants of the medieval era who made the ancient Maritime Republic rich and powerful to the trade established by the Amalfi people from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
It is a tribute to the entrepreneurial capacity of the territory which once fell within the Duchy of Amalfi, the 23rd edition of the Byzantine New Year which this year will be celebrated along the path that leads back to those businessmen such as Pantaleone de Comite Maurone and Pantaleone Viarecta, who donated the bronze doors of Amalfi and Atrani.
And so, having examined the profiles of personalities linked to the territory of the ancient Duchy by ties of belonging, frequentation or study of the medieval Amalfi civilization, the commission composed of the mayors of Amalfi and Atrani, Daniele Milano and Luciano de Rosa Laderchi, the delegate for Culture of the Municipality of Amalfi, Enza Cobalto, the councilor for Culture of Atrani, Michele Siravo, the honorary president of the Amalfi Culture and History Center, Ermelinda Di Lieto, and the creators of the event, the historians Giovanni Camelia and Giuseppe Gargano, unanimously designated Vittorio Perrotta, an internationally successful entrepreneur, as “Magister Civitatis Amalfie”.
Having emigrated at a very young age to the multi-ethnic Paris of the 1960s, with the enterprising spirit of the Amalfi merchants who imported spices, cloths and fine artefacts from the Byzantine warehouses, he intercepted the trends of the 'new' cultures, promoting innovative solutions in commercial exchanges, adopted as a global model of eco-sustainable development, multicultural integration and peaceful coexistence.
This is the reason why the new Magister will be invested with the title on the occasion of the Byzantine New Year which will be celebrated in Amalfi from August 31st to September 2nd.
"With this nomination we bring to light, giving it dignity, an exciting story of entrepreneurial ability that has matured outside national borders - the Award Commission says - The nomination of Vittorio Perrotta, as the new Magister of Amalfi Civilization, wants to be proposed as an example to the new generations because that melancholy that accompanies every type of emigration has transformed into a stubborn ability to conquer success".
The Byzantine New Year program will be inaugurated on August 31st, in Largo Duca Piccolomini with a study conference followed by an interview with the new Magister of Civiltà Amalfitana.
On September 1st, space will be given to the spectacular re-enactment: it will be the turn of the impressive Historical Procession, even richer than the one admired during the Regatta, parading along the route that leads from Amalfi to the churchyard of the Chapel of San Salvatore de' Birecto in Atrani, where the investiture ceremony of the Magister of Amalfi Civilization takes place in the presence of the Archbishop.
The evocative historical re-enactment parade, with over 100 participants in period costume, will also be the backdrop to the investiture ceremony this year, with the fascinating medieval rite inspired by the coronation of the Dukes of Amalfi, sealed by the presence of the Archbishop of Amalfi - Cava de' Tirreni, Monsignor Orazio Soricelli. At the end of the parade, the Magister will reach the evocative steps of the Cathedral of S. Andrea in Amalfi for the official presentation to the citizens.
Finally, on Saturday 2nd September, Alex Britti will perform (21.30:XNUMX p.m.) in which the Roman guitarist will bring an engaging and energetic live performance, the result of long work, a link between the past and present of his musical history. The audience will be able to let themselves be won over by the lightness and the blues and rock sounds that have always distinguished the Roman guitarist's repertoire, in this show in which Britti will reveal both his two souls, pop and singer-songwriter.
The twenty-third edition of the event will therefore be dedicated to the entrepreneurial skills of the Amalfitans who, since the Middle Ages, have allowed Amalfi to acquire considerable economic strength, leading it to be the first among the maritime cities in chronological order.
And this thanks to the merchants who managed to wrest the monopoly of Mediterranean trade from the Arabs, establishing trading posts in various parts of southern Italy and the Middle East as early as the 10th century. Amalfi, a small and intrepid queen of the seas, was able to broaden the horizon of its economic interests in the period in which Europe slowly began its awakening.
It was with the change in general economic conditions that the volume of Amalfi traffic grew, finding outlets also in other ports of the Levant towards which navigation contracts for commercial purposes were very frequent.
An entrepreneurial ability inherent in the inhabitants of this strip of land, today strongly devoted to tourism, who have been able to weave commercial relationships even after centuries of distance from that glorious past that saw it as a rich and flourishing maritime republic.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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