Castellammare di Stabia (Italy)

Castellammare di Stabia is a port city part of the Naples Metropolis, with population around 70,000. The port (locode ITCAS) is approx 30 km (19 mi) to the southeast of Naples. The Naples Metropolis (2015-established in Italy's Campania region) groups a total of 92 municipalities.

As cruise port, Castellammare is visited only by luxury ships and superyachts as all large liners dock at Port Napoli. In Castellammare, cruise vessels either dock at Stabia Main Port's pier (if the LOA length allows it) or anchor off the port and transport their passengers via tender boats to Marina di Stabia.

Regularly scheduled ferries link Castellammare with Sorrento (40-min travel time), Amalfi (2,5-hours), Positano (2-hours), Capri Island (1-hour). Crossings to Capri are provided by the companies SNAV (Societa Navigazione Alta Velocita/subsidiary of MSC Group) and NLG (Navigazione Libera del Golfo/owned by the families Aponte and Savarese). The other ferry connections (7 weekly crossings) are by NLG ships only.

The port houses Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia (Royal Dockyard of Castellammare di Stabia) which is one of the shipyards owned by Fincantieri - currently ranked among the world's largest shipbuilding companies. Fincantieri's other merchant shipbuilding facilities are Marghera (Venice), Sestri Ponente (Genova), Ancona, Monfalcone (near Trieste) and Palermo Sicily, plus the naval shipyards Riva Trigoso (Genova) and Muggiano (La Spezia).

The settlement was established around a 9th-century castle (Stabia), in the mid-19th-century (1863) was renamed Castellamare, and in 1912 - Castellammare di Stabia. Popular tourist attractions and landmarks include Castellammare Cathedral (19th-century/Concattedral di Maria Santissima Assunta e San Catello), Chiesa di San Bartolomeo (17th-century church), Chiesa di Santa Caterina (18th-century church), Chiesa del Gesu (17th-century church), Chiesa del Purgatorio (19th-century church), Roman villas (perfectly preserved due to Mount Vesuvius' eruption), thermal baths (using 28 thermal waters of different types and therapeutic properties).