Arriving at Piazza Vittoria, you enter along Via Giuseppe Orlandi, a pedestrian street dedicated to the Honorable Orlandi who, in 1875, allowed the construction of the road between Capri and Anacapri, to discover the ancient heart of this town. The many colorful shops that we find in this charming village offer to many visitors exclusive products of local crafts. The first stop is at the Red House, built in 1876 by American Southern colonel J.C.Mackowen. On the front of the door, a Greek inscription reads “Salve o cittadino della città del dolce far niente”. This is why Apragopolis is one of the many names with which Capri is remembered: city of dolce far niente. Inside, you can admire many archaeological finds that the colonel, passionate about ancient history, collected on the island. On the first floor a beautiful gallery of paintings from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries depicting enchanted landscapes and scenes of island life. In the upper room the three statues of marine deities, clear proof that the famous Blue Grotto in Augustea-Tiberian era was a nymphaeum, most likely connected by land with the Villa di Gradelle that stood above. A few steps away, in Piazza San Nicola we find the church of San Michele Arcangelo that the blessed Mother Serafina di Dio, key figure of the 600 caprese, built on a project by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. Inside, the masterpiece of the “mastro riggiolaro” Chiaiese that reproduces the Paradise on Earth. In the 2500 tiles majolica, the artist who also worked in other convents and churches of the Sorrento Peninsula, reproduces with great skill many fantastic and real animals. Along via Finestrale you reach Piazza Boffe. This ancient square also called the “Ficacciate” was also the “Seat of the elderly”, where the government of the village met. It owes its name to the barrel vaults that characterize the houses, which in Arabic are called “Ghrffe”. Magically, you will have the impression, especially at sunset, that you are in a square of Tunis or Marrakech. Returning to the town you will arrive at the church of S.Sofia, with its ancient bell tower, built in 1550, with inside the statue of S.Antonio, patron saint of Anacapri, which on 13 June is carried in procession under a rain of flowers falling from the balconies.
curated byRenato Esposito
