The origins of this small and quiet fishing village are dated back to greek-roman. The name may derive from Erchie Hercules, which was probably dedicated a temple on its ruins was built in the tenth century, the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria de Irchi, sacked by the Saracens in 1154, abandoned, and then finally destroyed by a violent storm in 1440.
It was precisely the monks to give effect to the economy of the country, with the construction of the typical dry stone walls for the cultivation of citrus and sturdy fishing boats, since the abbey also enjoyed the "ius piscariae" on the coast to Amalfi. Erchie prospered and enjoyed a long period of comfort, arose other monasteries, intensified trade with the East. Like all villages bordering the coast, the country suffered the constant threat of Ottoman raids. The beautiful Tower Cerniola, now fully restored, and the ruins of the Tower of Tummolo, which are located on both ends of the bay, remember the times of fear and of the battles, the most devastating of which occurred in the spring of 1534, when the Ottomans led by-Kheir Eddin, the fierce pirate Barbarossa sacked Erchie, Cetara and neighboring houses. The memory of another bloody battle took place between the French fleet and the imperial army of Charles V off Capo d'Orso in 1528, is placed in the name of the promontory of Tummolo. Here, the current carried the bodies of many soldiers perished in the crash and the people above them burial of rocks, hence the name of the tower and head. Remained for a long period vocated mixed, skilled fishermen and industrious farmers, in the last century Erchie hosted a quarry was active from 1912 until 1965, causing irreparable damage to the landscape visible on the rocky hill on the right. Until the mid-thirties was also active in a trap nets, which began in front of the beach rock of Cauca.
Despite having undergone a remarkable demographic impoverishment, the loss of primary school, post office and several shops once present here today Erchie a purely tourist vocation, helped by the clean sea and its easy accessibility through a short branch road state. The village itself, however, is only accessible by a staircase that goes down the last of several car parks, and paths between the houses, arranged along a line just 160 meters, are exclusively pedestrian. The small stream divides the St. Nicholas lived in two small nuclei, of which the West is the oldest.
In the most crowded days of summer on the beach Erchie come to hundreds, sometimes even a few thousand bathers who use the services offered by three stabililimenti resorts and restaurants. After the storm beach in the summer months, the small town back to breathe, the old fishermen are reclaiming their beach and the hundred inhabitants take over the slow pace in the quiet of their village