Amalfi: A New Year in August

Only a few days remain until New Years Eve.

On August 31, in Amalfi, Italy the annual celebration will welcome the beginning of the New Year according to the old civil calendar of the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine New Years Eve is one of three traditional celebrations that stir the local population (5,480) and draw crowds of visitors to Amalfi. The other two events are:

• the Feast Days of Saint Andrew – June and November
• the Ancient Regata (rotates each year among Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice)

The cobblestone streets wind through the terra-cotta buildings and lead to sites such as the 11th-century Cathedral of Saint Andrew and the Cloister of Paradise.

Amalfi serves as a reminder to four-figure cities to stay in touch with their history and create celebrations which can serve as “glue” for the residents and “magnets” for tourists.