Amalfi

Amalfi , town (1991 pop. 5,589), in Campania, S Italy, a small fishing port on the Gulf of Sorrento. Built on a mountain slope, it is also a picturesque seaside resort. According to legend, Amalfi was founded by the Romans; it later became (9th cent. AD) an early Italian maritime republic. It rivaled Pisa, Venice, and Genoa in wealth and power and had a population of about 70,000. Amalfi's maritime code, the Tavole Amalfitane, had wide influence until the 18th cent. Amalfi reached its zenith in the 11th cent. Thereafter it declined fairly rapidly; it was captured (1131) by the Normans and sacked (1135, 1137) by the Pisans, and in 1343 a storm destroyed much of the town. Of note in Amalfi is the Sicilian-Arab cathedral (11th cent., with numerous later additions), which has an imposing facade, fine bronze doors cast (1066) in Constantinople, and a stunning cloister ( chiostro del Paradiso ). The Amalfi Coast, running from Salerno to Sorrento, is famous for its rugged scenery.

doge The title of the holder of the highest civil office in Venice, Genoa, and Amalfi from the 7th century until the 18th century. The office originated in Venice; in 1032 hereditary succession was formally banned and election was made increasingly complicated to prevent domination by particular factions, although the Participazio and Candiano families provided most candidates in the 9th and 10th centuries, and the Tiepolo and Dandolo in the 13th and 14th. The system ended with the Napoleonic conquest of 1797. The Genoese introduced a similar system after 1339. Democratic until 1515, it became an aristocratic office thereafter and also succumbed to NAPOLEON. The first doge's palace in Venice was built in 814 and destroyed in 976. The present gothic building was begun in the early 14th century.