Villa Cetara

Villa Cetara incorporates a 16th-century Saracen watchtower, one of a chain built along the Amalfi Coast to warn of Ottoman pirate raids. The tower forms the centrepiece of the property, with a spiral stone staircase ascending to a rooftop terrace that provides a 360-degree panorama: the entire coast from Salerno to Positano, the fishing boats of Cetara's harbour directly below, and the terraced hillside rising behind. A modern wing, built in sympathetic stone and rendered in the same whitewash, extends from the tower to provide the bedrooms and living spaces. Four bedrooms occupy the modern wing, each with floor-to-ceiling glass facing the sea and en-suite bathrooms finished in local limestone. The tower itself contains a study on its middle level and the master suite at the top, circular in plan with windows on four sides and a bathroom accessed through a vaulted stone passage. Sleeping in the tower, with the sound of the harbour below and the stars visible through the ancient arrow slits, is an experience unique to this property. Cetara is the working end of the Amalfi Coast - a genuine fishing village that produces colatura di alici, the anchovy sauce that is the region's most prized condiment. The village has none of the tourist infrastructure of Positano or Amalfi but has some of the coast's best restaurants, including two that serve only what the morning's boats bring in. The property's chef has worked in these kitchens and brings the same no-menu, market-driven approach to the villa's table. A 10-metre infinity pool sits on a terrace below the tower, oriented south toward the open sea. The property is 15 minutes from Amalfi town, 35 minutes from Positano, and 20 minutes from Salerno, which has a train station with high-speed connections to Naples and Rome.