Vallone dei Mulini

The Vallone dei Mulini is one of Sorrento's most overlooked sights, even though it lies a step from the busiest spot in town, Piazza Tasso, in Campania, Italy. Most visitors cross the square without realising that the pavement spans a deep, narrow gorge, and only those who walk to the parapet see the ravine opening below. At the bottom stand the overgrown ruins of a former flour mill, its walls cloaked in moss, ferns and creepers, in a damp, shady microclimate noticeably cooler than the street. The mill once used the stream and humidity of the valley for grinding grain, and the building was later abandoned and left to nature, creating a scene of romantic decay in the middle of a resort town. What makes it a hidden gem is the contrast: a few metres from cafes, scooters and souvenir shops, the gorge feels like a pocket of untouched landscape. Visitors normally look down from the railing for 10 to 15 minutes, taking photographs and enjoying the green view. The best angle is the corner railing looking straight down at the mill, and morning light brings out the vegetation most clearly. The lookout is on the flat pavement of the square, free and open at all hours, with no queue. It is quietest early in the morning and late in the evening, when street lighting gives the ravine a mysterious look; midday in summer sees brief clusters of people at the railing. Because it takes so little time, it fits perfectly as a pause between coffee and a walk down Via San Cesareo, or before heading to the cathedral and the Museo Correale.