Massa Lubrense

At the referendum of 2 and 3 June 1946, the one between monarchy and republic, Massa Lubrense recorded the highest monarchist share in Italy: a little over four thousand five hundred votes for the king, against one hundred and twenty-six for the republic. The town stands on the tip of the Sorrentine peninsula, where the Amalfi coast ends and begins, and it takes the second half of its name from the Madonna della Lobra, who is also the figure on the municipal arms. Below the town opens the Marina della Lobra, a natural inlet that is the comune's harbour and that is named after the old church standing above it.

In front of the marina there is a rock, the Vervece. In September Mass is celebrated on it: hundreds of boats gather around the rock, and wreaths of flowers are laid on the statue of the Madonna that stands on the seabed, at some ten metres down, in memory of all those lost at sea and of divers in particular. The rest of the coast is protected: the marine area of punta Campanella, created in 1997, has its headquarters right here, inside a sixteenth-century watchtower, and keeps motorboats out of the bay of Ieranto — you get there by kayak, or on foot along the path that starts at Nerano.