The oldest ruins in the area date to 600 B.C. and the Oscans, an Italic tribe who were neighbors of the Latin-speaking Romans. In those days, it was called Surrentum. In modern times, the famed ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum are easily accessed from Sorrento by means of the Circumvesuviana rail line.
A quick look around Sorrento will reveal that the steep hillsides of the town are thickly planted with lemon trees. This is the source of Sorrento's famous limonicello. This is a digestive alcohol made with lemon rinds, 96 percent pure alcohol, sugar and water. It is common for many of the area's residents to make their own. Although limonicello is made with incredibly potent alcohol, it is usually watered down to 40 percent or less for consumption.
Sorrento is home to a couple of literary footnotes. Torquato Tasso, a 16th Century Italian poet, was born there. It also became the home of the Soviet writer Maxim Gorky. Gorky left the Soviet Union in 1921 for the sunnier climate of Sorrento because of his tuberculosis. After Italy turned fascist under Mussolini, Gorky was invited to return to the Soviet Union, which he did in 1931.
The Neapolitan island of Capri has been a playground for the wealthy and powerful ever since the Roman Emperor Tiberius moved permanently to a villa there in 27 AD. So it remains today, but tourists also take the ferry from Sorrento to visit the island on day trips. It is home to many sites, including the ruins of Tiberius's villa and the Blue Grotto.
Sorrento is a center in Italy's traditional marquetry crafts. This is a decorative craft where an object is covered with pieces of veneer to form a pattern. It is common to apply it to furniture, but it is sometimes also used for panels as well. There are a handful of local shops owned by recognized master craftsmen, and their work makes for items that are a big cut above the common souvenir.
