Italy - Capri - Historic Villa San Michele
Roman Ruins, Fine Mediteranian Garden, Walks Along Leafy Trails
Apr 3, 2009
The island of Capri is reached by a short trip boat from the Harbour in Naples.There are two main towns, Anacapri and Capri. In earlier times the two towns were rivals and even today they have different atmospheres and attractions.
Italy - About Anacapri
Anacapri is a pretty little town with whitewashed buildings and picturesque alleyways to explore. It is here that the beautiful and historic Villa San Michele is situated. Built on the ruins of an ancient Chapel dedicated to San Michele, the villa now belongs to the Axel Munthe Foundation. It is the most popular attraction on the island of Capri.
Italy - Capri - Axel Munthe
Munthe was born in Sweden, When he was seventeen he visited Capri and, while walking up the Phoenician steps to the village of Anacapri, he came across a ruined chapel which, he was told, had been built on the ruins of the Roman Emperor Tiberius' villa. It was here that the seed was laid for his obsession to build an equally beautiful villa and to restore the property on which it stood to something of its original grandeur.
His dream never faded and eventually, in 1885, after a successful career in Sweden as a doctor, he returned to Anacapri work on the Villa San Michele. Ten years later, in 1895 work was completed.
The history of the villa is described by Dr. Munthe in his book entitled The Story of San Michele, published in 1929. There have been numerous reprints since then.
Italy - Capri - Villa San Michele
Apart from his profession as a successful physician, Munthe was also an enthusiastic archaeologistand part of his dream for the villa was to create a perfect place in which to house his collection of relics and classical artefacts. Many of these were pieces of Roman statues and ancient archeological items excavated on Capri. Villa San Michele is Anacapri’s most popular attraction.
The house is contains stunning art and antiques and is surrounded by beautiful gardens containing fragments of sarcophagi, busts, Roman paving, marble and columns
Italy - Capri - Villa San Michele Garden
The ruins which once were an ancient Roman villa are now part of the garden There is a Roman paving, a Greek tomb and a granite Sphinx which gazes out over the Bay of Naples from one of the villa’s many balconies. There also are classical statues and numerous relics and works of art dating back to ancient Egypt and other periods of antiquity.
All of this is surrounded by the natural beauty of Mediterranean plants and trees, plus hundreds of plants from other parts of the world. It has perhaps the most dramatic location of any garden in Europe and is one of the most-visited gardens in Italy. Thanks to its geographic position the garden remains fresh and green all year round and its gardens have panoramic views of the city of Capri and its marina, the Sorrentine Peninsula, and Mount Vesuvius.
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