Monuments
of Capri
The excavations have brought to light many cisterns used
to receive water. Hotels have been built on these ruins
especially in Marina Grande, and the same Casa di Pisco
in Calcare has been erected on the ruins of an old cistern.
From an artistic and historical point of view Palazzo a
Mare is very interesting. This was one of the residences
of the emperor Cesare Ottaviano who named the isle “city
of doing sweet nothing”.
Today only a few ruins can be admired because the Austrian
Hadrawa plundered the Palace of its artistic goods and
because the French during the XVIII century transformed
the Palace in a blockhouse during the war against the English.
From Palazzo a Mare it is possible to reach the so called
Bagni di Tiberio. After Punta di Gramola there is the wonderful
and famous Blue Grotto with its reflections of lights and
shades; the Green Grotto is fascinating, too.
Among the holy buildings the most important is probably
the church of San Costanzo, erected between the XI and
XII century. This was Capri’s cathedral until the
title was assigned to the church of Santo Stefano in1596.
Near the church of San Costanzo there are the remains of
the emperor Cristina’s tomb. The heart of the social
life in Capri is without doubt Piazza Umberto I, also known
as the “Piazzetta”.
From here it is possible to admire a wonderful view of
the Gulf of Naples, the Torre dell’ Orologio, and
the baroque church of Santo Stefano which contains the
tomb of Vincenzo and Giacomo Arcucci and the remains of
Saint Agata. From the Piazzetta it is easy to reach Palazzo
Vescovile which is now the residence of the Town Hall.
Other important buildings are Palazzo Cerio which houses
the important library “Centro Caprese”, Palazzo
Bonacci and Palazzo Canale.
Opposite Palazzo Cerio there are high walls which mark
the fourteenth century village. Here we find the ruins
of the Monastery of Santa Teresa and the church of SS.
Salvatore erected during the seventeenth century.
On the highest part of the village stands Castello del
Castiglione. The oldest church of the village is the fourteenth
century church of Sant’ Anna.
Along Via Tiberio we may see wonderful villas such as Villa
Fersen, Villa Jovis which was the residence of the Emperor
Tiberius and Parco Astorita from where the sight goes from
the Faraglioni rocks to Sorrento. The Faraglioni rocks
are higher than 100 metres and on one of them lives a very
rare blue lizard called “scopolo”.
On the promontory Fasullo there is another famous villa
which belonged to the writer Curzio Malaparte.
Walking along Via Camerelle there is the Charterhouse of
San Giacomo. It was built in 1363 by Giacomo Arcucci, who
was the secretary of the Queen Giovanna Anjou.
Today the charterhouse is the residence of the local library
and of a high school while Sala Diefenbach has been transformed
into a museum.
Not far from the charterhouse there is the Park of Augustus and Via Krupp which
leads to one of the best known beaches of Capri: Marina Piccola.
copyright
Starnetwork srl-
Written by: Teresa Gagliardi
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