Montepertuso
Look up from anywhere in Positano on a clear day and you'll spot it: a clean hole punched through the grey limestone face of Mount Gambera, 510 metres above the sea. That opening is what gives Montepertuso its name — pertugio means hole in the local dialect — and the village that grew beneath it is something quite different from the resort town below.
Up here, the road only arrived within living memory. Before that, the way in was a staircase of roughly 1,500 steps. A few restaurants, a small church, good parking, and that improbable arch of sky through solid rock: Montepertuso earns the climb.
💛 What travellers fall for
Return visitors tend to mention two things by name: Il Ritrovo, where the filled courgette flowers are the reason to sit down, and the limoncello stand that appears near the top of the trail just when you need it. Get the bus up from Positano's Piazza dei Mulini and walk the steps back down — the descent is far kinder on the lungs.
The story behind Montepertuso
The village's oldest layer traces back to refugees from Paestum — nomads who fled a Saracen raid and settled the area still called Pestella, meaning 'little Paestum'. How long ago exactly is uncertain, but the settlement is reckoned to be more than a thousand years old.
The name comes with a legend: the Virgin Mary and the Devil — cast as a serpent — fought here, and it was her finger that pierced the rock of Mount Gambera, leaving the arch as proof of her victory. Whether or not you follow the story, the hole is real and large enough to frame the sky. Frederick II is said to have kept hunting eagles raised in the village, one of several moments when Montepertuso briefly entered the wider record before retreating back into its hillside quiet.
Good to know
The SITA bus toward Agerola stops at Montepertuso's square; the ride takes about 20 minutes from central Positano. The walk to the rock hole itself takes another 20 minutes from the square. April through October is the practical window for the trail. No tickets, no gates.
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons on this exposed hillside — warm enough to hike without the midsummer heat that makes the 1,700-step ascent from the beach genuinely punishing. The July 2nd festival of the Madonna delle Grazie, which ends with fireworks visible across the coast, is a reason to visit in summer despite the temperatures.
Where is Montepertuso?
Location
- In Positano
- 40.6380, 14.4760
- Open in Google Maps
More tickets & tours for Montepertuso
Book directly at the provider
More of Positano
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Positano →More attractions in Positano
All of Positano →
Background adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ratings & place photos via Google · other photos with per-image credit. Ticket links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.