Travelling along the Amalfi Coast from Amalfi towards Positano, it is easy to miss Furore. The village of around 700 inhabitants has no central square, no seafront promenade, no marketplace. Its houses are spread across a difference in elevation of 500 metres, nestled against the steep slopes of the Monti Lattari and connected by a narrow network of lanes and stairways. In Italy, the village is therefore known as the "paese che non c'è" the place that does not exist. Two further characteristics set Furore apart: a deep rocky gorge, which is mistakenly referred to in German as Italy's only fjord, and around a hundred murals by international artists on the façades of the scattered houses. Those willing to make the detour will discover a side of the Amalfi Coast that has largely gone unnoticed beyond the picture-postcard scenes of Positano, Amalfi and the island of Capri .
The fjord that is not really a fjord
The Fiordo di Furore is not, geologically speaking, a fjord in the true sense, but rather a ria, a deep rocky gorge carved out by the Torrente Schiato. The stream tumbles down from the high plateau of Agerola towards the sea, cutting a narrow inlet into the coastline over thousands of years. At its base lies a beach of just 25 metres in width, framed by towering rock faces. The geology made the site a secure refuge from hostile attacks from the sea for centuries, according to an overview by the travel portal Costiera Amalfitana on the fjord.
In recent years, the fjord has become famous above all for its arched bridge, which spans the two rock faces 30 metres above the water and forms part of the coastal road SS 163. Photographed from the beach, the bridge has become an Instagram favourite, drawing thousands of travellers to the small pebble beach each year. Around the beach, the monazzeni have been preserved: old fishermen's houses that once served as storage depots for tools. Part of these houses now houses the Ecomuseo del Fiordo , an open-air museum documenting the traditional building and fishing culture of the area.
Where Anna Magnani and Rossellini met and parted
It was above all Italian Neorealismthat brought Furore to fame. In 1948, director Roberto Rossellini chose the fjord and the scattered houses as the backdrop for the second part of his film L'Amore starring Anna Magnani, who was his partner at the time. Federico Fellini also appeared in front of the camera as an actor. Rossellini and Magnani fell so deeply in love with the place that they purchased two neighbouring monazzeni by the fjord: the Villa del Dottore for Rossellini and the Villa della Storta for Magnani.
A few months later, Rossellini received a letter in Furore from Ingrid Bergman in Hollywood, which is regarded as the beginning of the end of his relationship with Magnani. Bergman, at the time one of the biggest stars in Hollywood cinema, had written to Rossellini expressing her admiration for his films. This correspondence gave rise to one of the most celebrated love affairs in Italian film history, which separated Rossellini and Magnani and brought Ingrid Bergman to Italy. Today, the Villa della Storta houses a museum dedicated to Anna Magnani, documenting both the actress's career and the dramatic episode in Furore.
A village without a centre, with a hundred murals
Higher up the hillside, far from the fjord, begins the other part of Furorethat earned the village its second nickname: paese dipinto, the painted village. Since the 1980s, under the then mayor Raffaele Ferraioli, the walls of houses have been used as canvases. International artists from Italy, Germany, Poland and Brazil have created around a hundred murals, now collectively presented under the title Muri d'Autore . Those who explore the village on foot follow a kind of open-air art trail.
Alongside the murals, the upper part of the village is also shaped by its sacred buildings : the Chiesa di Sant'Elia Profeta dates from the 13th century and contains a depiction of the Madonna with the Apostle Bartholomew. The Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo offers a sweeping panoramic view of the coast, and the Cappella rupestre di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria is a rock chapel in the area of the fjord. Around 1,500 steps connect the upper part of the village with the sea, according to an overview by the portal Idealista from August 2026. There is also a zip line crossing the fjord from one side to the other, a modern attraction within an otherwise entirely historic setting.
Heroic farming and wine on steep slopes
Between the upper village and the sea, the Terraces the landscape. On narrow strips between the rocks, lemons, grapevines and walnut trees grow, tended through a form of cultivation known in Italy as agricoltura eroica which translates as heroic farming. The term refers to the extreme gradients that make cultivation without machinery impossible, demanding physical labour that can barely be sustained on a permanent basis.
From the viticulture of the region, the protected designation of origin Costa d'Amalfi Furore DOC has emerged, available in both a white and a red variety. The vines stand on steep slopes overlooking the sea, benefiting from the Mediterranean climate of the coast in combination with the cool upland air currents of the Monti Lattari. Alongside wine, the region's key products include the lemons of the Amalfi Coast, most commonly of the Sfusato Amalfitanovariety, which are grown on the cultivated land around Furore.
Practical: Getting there and when to visit
Furore lies along the coastal road SS 163 Amalfitana between Amalfi and Praiano, in the Salerno province of Campania. According to the information provided by the regional portal Authentic Amalfi Coast on Furore the village can be reached by car from Naples via the A3 motorway towards Salerno, leaving at Castellammare di Stabia and continuing along the SS 366 to Agerola. Travelling from Salerno, the route runs from Vietri sul Mare directly along the coast via Amalfi towards Positano. By public transport, a bus service operates between Amalfi and Agerola with a stop at Furore.
Those travelling the narrow coastal road between June and September should expect heavy traffic and a volume of tourists that puts pressure on other coastal regions too: the road is single-lane in places, and the number of coaches means progress is slow. Regional portals recommend the shoulder months of April, May, September and October, when temperatures remain mild, the sea is still warm enough for a swim, and the coastal road is noticeably quieter. Furore itself has no central car park of its own, which makes arriving by bus or motorbike the more practical option.
