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Minori derives its name from the torrent Reginna Minor (or Reginuolo) that
crosses it. It has been
inhabited since Roman times, as some remains of the splendid Villa
Romana testify. In the Middle Ages it had a more than adequate economic
development, in fact, Minori had been a Diocese since 987, due to Pope
Giovanni XV's will and shared the history and fate of the near Amalfi,
with which it was often in competition. It is a small but very nice
town with a beautiful promenade, enriched by a splendid 11th-century
fountain (Lions' Fountain) and a net of picturesque and lively lanes.
Minori has often been devastated by natural catastrophes and plagues:
a tempest in 1597 was particularly terrible, it destroyed the walls
and the main square. The Cathedral deserves a visit:it preserves S.
Trofimena's relics , a saint venerated all along the Coast. A 17th-century
marble pulpit is very remarkable. A wooden Baroque
altar is interesting too, it is in the Church of S. Lucia at Benedictine
Convent. However, above all, Minori offers the possibility of visiting
the remains of a Roman Villa of the Augustean Age (1st century), built
on a 2500-square-me-tre area. Excavations began in 1932 and were continued
after the flood of 1954 buried it under a blanket of mud. The building
had two storeys originally, but the top floor has been lost.
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