Positano defies gravity. Pastel buildings hang like tendrils dipping over the sea. Mosaic church domes are wedged between cliffs. Old ladies with in matching house dresses and droopy nylons trudge up countless stairs.  The town is vertical, funneling from a long, winding strip of coast into the hills.  The highest neighborhood of Positano is Montepertuso, meaning Mount Hole in local dialect.  As the legend goes, villagers attempting to escape marauders scampered into the hills above town only to become blocked by an imposing rock formation.  They prayed to the Virgin Mary and so she ventured down from the heavens and parted the rocks, allowing the early Positanese to pass through safely.  The hole in this rock formation is said to resemble the Madonna (I think it looks like an rather beaky eagle) and would give Montepertuso its name.