Valley of the Mills, Sorrento

Some 35,000 years ago, in today's Sorrento, a volcano erupted. It cut a deep gorge through the limestone on the spot where the city's center is currently located. Waters, moving through the canyon, sculpted out fast-running channels to the sea. Over the centuries, settlements arose, leaving historical evidence of their passing in the area's caves.

There are mysteries and legends about the caves. Many people of Sorrento believed the gorge was patrolled at night by a huge medieval figure, armed head to foot. It was the mission of the ghost to kill anyone who did not know the magic words to unlock the treasure of the caves.

While there may not have been a ghost, there was "treasure." In 1885, Leonardo Lorenzoni, director of the Technical School of Vigiano, discovered several rare and precious artifacts of early settlers. He donated his find to professor Justinian Nicolucci of the University of Naples. He called the artifact cave "Nicolucci's Cave."

A good view of the mills is from behind Tasso Square. There are two streams, the Casariano-Cesarano, and Saint Antonino. Where the two streams meet is where the mills were built. Mills of one sort or another have been in the gorge since the 10th century. A grain mill, a sawmill, and an old washhouse are among the ruins.

The mills were isolated from the sea when Tasso Square was built in 1866. They were later abandoned. The gorge was taken over by exotic vegetation and rare ferns.