History
Marina Grande in Sorrento was established as a small fishing village in the third century B.C. with ancient Greek architecture. It's stone path and gate connected to the old town center of Sorrento and served as a hub for fishermen to work and worship at the church of Sant'Anna. As seen from the pictures below, the port has grown over the centuries to accommodate the growing population of Sorrento and eventually the large influx of tourists. In 1558, the Turks infiltrated Marina Grande through the ancient path, which damaged the original gate, but the citizens were able to later restore it. In the 1800s, Sorrento was no longer living on fishing and agriculture business. Instead, it grew as a tourist destination. The Marina now hosts a number of tourist hotels and apartments alongside the local housing, and sports the umbrellas of private beach clubs. In contrast, Marina Piccola is just on the other side of the valley, separated from Marina Grande by Punta San Vincenzo. Marina Piccola is the port of many different ferries, hosting more than 33% of international tourism in the Naples area. The local housing has also been removed from this area in favor of stylish dining and beach resorts, with the only real local spot remaining being the church of Santa Maria. In this way, Marina Grande has remained one of the more local neighborhoods in Sorrento.
​
.jpeg)
Marina Grande is also a cultural staple because of more modern occurrences. Sofia Loren's performance in "Scandal in Sorrento" in 1955 made the Marina an iconic place to see and live. This film had a significant impact on the tourism in Sorrento and contributed to the sudden rise in popularity in swimming and dining along the water. Loren's influence can be seen all around the streets of Sorrento, with photo exhibits, posters, and even a restaurant dedicated to her. Her appearance in Marina Grande in cinema sold Sorrento as a beautiful, romantic place which spread the appeal of the town to many people. It was especially enticing because it featured secluded, natural landscapes such as Bagni di Regina Giovanni, which to this day continues to be a famous spot to swim, cliff jump, and view the ruins of an ancient Roman villa. Because of these effects, Sophia Loren is considered by many to be an honorary citizen of Sorrento and her presence is prominent if you keep an eye out for her.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Religion
The Chiesa di Sant'Anna was built by the fishermen of Marina Grande in the 15th century to honor the mother of the Virgin Mary, St. Anna. Anna is known for having a difficult time conceiving a child with her husband Joachim, until an angel promised that she would give birth to a daughter. After this, she gave birth to Mary, who according to the Bible was blessed by God and miraculously gave birth to Jesus. In fact, the latin inscription on the church reads "virginis deiparae gentrici" meaning "mother of a virgin". This makes St. Anna the maternal grandmother of Jesus and the patron saint of pregnancy and fertility. Since, Sant'Anna is the patron saint of Marina Grande, she is also the protector of fishermen. This symbolism can be seen in the scene depicted on the doors to the church, as they show Jesus interacting with and blessing fishermen. In following years after the church was founded, valuable statues of St. Anna, St. John the Baptist, and the wooden crucifix were built and placed in the church. Every year on July 26th, the festival and feast of Sant'Anna is held, where specialty lights shaped like sea shells shine along the beach and locals dine on traditional cuisine in the Marina. On the next Sunday, a procession begins early in the morning and the fishermen bring the statue of Sant'Anna to every port on the way to Castellemare and bless all of the ports for the following year. Since St. Anna is representative of safe pregnancy, handmade handkerchiefs are sold to bless the pregnant woman of the town. Local women can be seen knitting handkerchiefs to sell, and there's also a group of women who sell handmade baby clothes and various linens right outside the church on the days leading up to the festival. The celebration ends with a huge fireworks display as a final celebration of St. Anna. In addition to these ceremonies, Mass is held hourly through August 1st.
​
Sant'Anna Institute gets its name from the religious background of the building. The space used to be a convent of nuns, but it became Sant'Anna Institute in 1998. St. Anna is still honored at the building through two different shrines located both inside and outside its gates.
Daily Life
Talks with local fisherman and observations have shown that fishing in and around Marina Grande is not as common as it once was. Apparently, the fishing in this area is no longer successful, so fishermen must take their boats to other locations to get a desirable haul. The tourism in the area has also had large impact on local life. During the summer months, local fishermen must pay a man in a dingy to take them to and from their boats every day, and the beach is packed with travelers, causing some trash to pollute the water. Gentrification has also driven the prices of the area much higher than average, influencing the accessibility of food, bars, and shops along the water. Beach clubs have also taken over much of the marina, profiting off of the lounge chairs that they place over most of the beach. All of this leads to a more difficult lifestyle for locals during the tourist season and the contrast between local and tourist life is evident from our view above the Marina Grande. The local alleys behind the Marina are often much less flashy and expensive than the apartments on display from the beach. In this way, a clear divide can be seen between the daily life of Italians and foreigners looking for a scenic getaway.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Also found in Marina Grande, the Mar del Plata plaque honors the port of Mar del Plata in Argentina. This may seem random at first, but once the inscription on the plaque is translated it reads "Mar del Plata pier: in memory of the Sorrento people, who came from here, to make Mar del Plata and all of Argentina great." Many Italians immigrated to Argentina from the 1850s - 1970s to escape unsafe situations due to global conflict and to seek better financial opportunities. Argentina was a common destination for these Italian refugees because the population was very low in comparison to the area of the country. Because of this mass movement, Argentina has a very large population of citizens of Italian descent. Specifically, 30 million Argentinian citizens claim to have Italian ancestors, or in other words about 66% of the population is Italian. This strong Italian presence and culture can be observed in Argentina through Italian shops and restaurants and many Italian speakers.
Like most tourist towns, Sorrento looks a lot different during the off season than during tourist season. As seen in the pictures below, during the winter in Marina Grande fishermen pull their boats right onto the beach with no beach umbrellas encumbering them. Additionally, the locals can park their cars along the whole street behind the water because the amount of pedestrian traffic is drastically decreased. The beach clubs all close down and the beachside restaurants are boarded up for the cold months. All these factors work together to create a very different picture of the Marina in the off season.
