8 Great Places in Rome: No 3rd of 8 Capri

3 Capri

flickr/archer10 (Dennis)

A day trip from Rome to the beautiful island of Capri requires a full day, but it is well worth it. After a train ride from Rome to Naples, you then will enjoy a scenic boat ride across the Gulf of Naples to the main port of Capri, Marina Grande. At this lively port, you can browse a variety of shops, savor great food at a terraced cafe and watch people passing by as well as colorful boats coming in and out. Capri offers several fantastic attractions, but the one not to miss is the Blue Grotto, a cave that reveals a brilliant reflection of blue and emerald-colored water. The cave can be accessed by a short boat ride from Marina Grande. Other attractions include Mount Solaro, Capri’s highest point. A chair lift takes visitors to the top of the mountain which offers stunning views of the island and sea. The lovely Villa San Michele in the town of Anacapri is also worth a visit with its stunning gardens, Phoenician steps, cafe and museum.

Capri (/kəˈpriː/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈkaːpri]) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town Capri on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic.
Features of the island are the Marina Piccola (the little harbour), the Belvedere of Tragara (a high panoramic promenade lined with villas), the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea (the Faraglioni), the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.
Capri is part of the region of Campania, Province of Naples. The town of Capri is the island's main population centre. The island has two harbours, Marina Piccola and Marina Grande (the main port of the island). The separate comune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west.

Etymology

The etymology of the name Capri is unclear; it might either be traced back to the Ancient Greeks (Ancient Greek kapros meaning "wild boar"), the first recorded colonists to populate the island. But it could also derive from Latin capreae (goats). Fossils of wild boars have been discovered, lending credence to the "kapros" etymology, but on the other hand the Romans called Capri "goat island". Finally, there is also the possibility the name derives from an Etruscan word for "rocky", though any historical Etruscan rule of the island is disputed.
Capri is a large, limestone and sandstone rock. The sides of the island are perpendicular cliffs and the surface of the island is more cliffs.

Government

Edwin Cerio was mayor of Capri from 1920 to 1923. Although he was only three years in office, his vision and policies had far-reaching impact on the nature and role of the government on the island.
Italy is a Republic, thus Capri, as part of Italy, has adopted those same principles too. The voters of the island elect representatives for the two villages on the island. The chosen representatives then choose two mayors to govern with them.

Ancient and Roman times

Capri harbour from Anacapri

According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Capri was once part of the mainland. This has been confirmed by geological surveys and archaeological findings.
The city has been inhabited since early times. Evidence of human settlement was discovered during the Roman era; according to Suetonius, when the foundations for the villa of Augustus were being excavated, giant bones and 'weapons of stone' were discovered. The emperor ordered these to be displayed in the garden of his main residence, the Sea Palace. Modern excavations have shown that human presence on the island can be dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Augustus developed Capri; he built temples, villas, aqueducts, and planted gardens so he could enjoy his private paradise
In his Aeneid, Virgil states that the island had been populated by the Greek people of Teleboi, coming from the Ionian Islands. Strabo says that "in ancient times in Capri there were two towns, later reduced to one. Tacitus records that there were twelve Imperial villas in Capri (or Capreae, as it was spelled in Latin). Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century.
Augustus' successor Tiberius built a series of villas at Capri, the most famous of which is the Villa Jovis, one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. In 27 AD, Tiberius permanently moved to Capri, running the Empire from there until his death in 37 AD.
In 182 AD, Emperor Commodus banished his sister Lucilla to Capri. She was executed shortly afterwards.

Middle and Modern Ages

One of the symbols of Capri: the Blue Grotto

After the end of the Western Roman Empire, Capri returned to the status of a dominion of Naples, and suffered various attacks and ravages by pirates. In 866 Emperor Louis II gave the island to Amalfi. In 987 Pope John XV consecrated the first bishop of Capri.
In 1496 Frederick IV of Naples established legal and administrative parity between the settlements of Capri and Anacapri. The pirate raids reached their peak during the reign of Charles V: the famous Turkish admirals Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Turgut Reis captured the island in 1535 and 1553 for the Ottoman Empire, respectively.
The first recorded tourist to visit the island was French antiques dealer Jean-Jacques Bouchard in the 17th century. His diary, found in 1850, is an important information source about Capri.

Recent history

In 1909–1911 Maxim Gorky lived on Capri at villa Behring (burgundy)

French troops under Napoleon occupied Capri in January 1806. The British ousted the French in the following May, after which Capri was turned into a powerful naval base (a "Second Gibraltar"), but the building program caused heavy damage to the archaeological sites. The French reconquered Capri in 1808, and remained there until the end of the Napoleonic era (1815), when Capri was returned to the Bourbon ruling house of Naples.
The natural scientist Ignazio Cerio catalogued Capri's flora and fauna during the 19th century. His work was continued by his son, author and engineer Edwin Cerio, who wrote several books on life in Capri in the 20th century.
Norman Douglas, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, Christian Wilhelm Allers, Emil von Behring, Curzio Malaparte, Axel Munthe, and Maxim Gorky are all reported to have owned a villa there, or to have stayed there for more than three months. Swedish Queen Victoria often stayed there. Rose O'Neill, the American illustrator and creator of the Kewpie, owned the Villa Narcissus, formerly owned by the famous Beaux Art painter Charles Caryl Coleman. Dame Gracie Fields also had a villa on the island, though her 1934 song "The Isle of Capri" was written by two Englishmen. Mariah Carey owns a villa on the island.
In 1908 Lenin was hosted by Maxim Gorky, the Russian author, at his house near the Giardini Augusto. In 1970 a monument by Giacomo Manzù was erected during the centennial celebration in Lenin's honour.
Today, Capri has become more of a resort and is invaded by tourists during the summer months of July and August