Travel Guide Gragnano

Situated at the foot of the Lattari Mountains, this town is famous in Italy and throughout the world for its production of high quality pasta. Often called città della pasta ("the city of pasta"), Gragnano was the birthplace of the first artisanal pasta makers in the late 16th century. The special microclimate of this municipality, sunny and cooled at the same time by the gentle sea breeze, proved particularly favourable to the production and drying of macaroni, which became the local speciality and has been protected since 1789 by an exclusive monopoly granted by the King of Naples himself. In the 19th century, the Via Roma, the main street of the city, was the centre of all the pasta factories. It was widened to allow the producers to lay their pasta out in the sun to dry, like laundry! Several historical houses are still there (Afeltra, Gentile)...but they no longer dry their production in the street!