In the winter, all the lemons in Amalfi have already been picked, and the empty lemon arbors glisten in the freshly fading dawn. With that slowness typical of certain southern villages, first stores lift their shutters: within an instant, the bustle of tourists already invades the alleys of the center.

The last and only paper mill still active in Amalfi slowly churns to life too. The mill’s owners, the Amatruda family, have carried on the tradition of papermaking since the 15th century. Formerly a hotspot of the papermaking craft, Amalfi was hit by a devastating flood in 1954, destroying 13 of the 16 paper mills and crashing the paper industry.