Mediterranean Sea Coasts: Culturally Rich Azure Wonders, Part 2 of 2

It is bordered by 21 countries, and today we visit four mesmerizing pieces of Mediterranean coastline: Santorini, Greece; Cap de Formentor, Spain; Costa Smeralda Sardinia, Italy; and the Amalfi Coast of Italy. It is widely agreed upon that these Mediterranean locations are amongst the most beautiful coastal regions in the whole world.

The Greek Island of Santorini is considered one of the most spectacular of the Greek islands. Santorini is an impressive sight, where unique hives of white-washed houses and tiny ports of colorful seafaring crafts hug craggy coastal inlets. Famous for its multi-hued panoramic sunsets, Santorini has been delighting humans for as long as history can reliably trace. Another unique feature of Santorini is the dozens of azure-domed churches with whitewashed walls that adorn several high points on the island – a wonderful architectural arrangement, mindful of the almost numinous quality of the Aegean Sea below them.

Next, we travel approximately 280 kilometers from Spain’s eastern coastline to a part of the Balearic Archipelago, the Cap de Formentor of Majorca. Situated on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, or Majorca, and close to the island’s northeastern city of Puerto Pollença the peninsula Cap de Formentor has been described as a natural paradise hidden away from the rest of the world. The 20-kilometer-long spit of rock jutting out from Majorca’s northern end is one of the island’s most rugged pieces of wilderness. The Cap de Formentor Lighthouse was completed in a monumental building project in 1863.

The Costa Smeralda, or the Emerald Coast, is a relatively new name, conceived in the early 1960s for a wondrous collection of beaches along an approximately 20-kilometer strip of the northern Sardinian coastline in Italy. The highlights of Costa Smeralda abound. Punta Ligata celebrates a natural archway of jagged sandstone while Pevera and Liscia Ruja are two of the largest beaches on the Costa Smeralda.

We travel now to Italy’s mainland and Costiera Amalfitana, or the Amalfi Coast, part of the Campania coastline. With more than 11,000 hectares of natural reserves and urban and agricultural areas, the Amalfi Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage site, notable for its spectacular mixture of natural land formations and human ingenuity.