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Capri Art, History, Monuments, Museums.
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ISLE OF CAPRI
CAPRI NATURAL ARCH - GROTTO OF MATERMANIA - PIZZOLUNGO - TRAGARA
This bold Arch is what remains of a large grotto that penetraded the
mountain. The waves of the sea extended its aperture and wasched away its debris.
After the uplifting of the island during the paleolithic era, the grotto was
freed from the erosive action of the waves and the wind and the rain trasformed
its surface. On returning from the Natural Arch, a flight of steps descending to
the valley below leads to the Matermania Grotto, an impressive natural cavern
trasformed during Roman times into a luxurious Nymphaeum. To-day few remains of
the wall, which were originally lined with mosaic tesserae made of glass
paste and decorated with multi-coloured plaster, shells and marine valves, have
survived.
These elements, now lost, were also found in the Arsenal Grotto, beneath the
Gardens of Augustus.
Beyond the Grotto, an easy path winding along the cliff bordering the sea lads
to Villa Malaparte, (or "Casa come me"), built at Punta Massullo on a
projet by architct Adalberto Libera. It continues up to Tragara Belvedere , from
where the centre can be reach in a few minutes walking along the eponymous road
( 1 hour 30 mins.)
CAPRI THE GROTTO OF MATROMANIA: Which is half hidden amid the grand scenery
of the rocks dropping sheer down the extreme south-eastern side of the island,
doubtlessly retains the memory of the deity to which it was dedicated in its
name. But the cult of Mitra was certainly brought to Capri later than the
Julian-Claudian age; and it is thus obvious to think, rather than of Mitra, of
the "Magna Mater" whose Corybantic cult is attested in the Sorrento
peninsula during the reign of Domitianus by the poet Statius. The savage beauty
of the site among woods and rocks should have rendered it particularly suited to
the Orgiastic rites of the goddess Cybele.
Whether this place was dedicated to the "Magna Mater" or not, the
Grotto has the appearance of an imposing natural cave transformed into a
luxurious nymphaeum in which was collected the dripping water which filtered
through the rocks above, formerly more abundantly than now, into a small cave at
the bottom of the grotto. The irregularly shaped Grotto was consolidated and
rendered more regular with massive masonry structures by the Romans, so as to
assume the shape of a rectangular apsed hall; the walls at the two sides
originally supported the vaulted ceiling of the Grotto; the end being formed by
two high semicircular plinths and by the natural rock wall, out of which flowed
a spring of fresh water that was collected in a small hollow; this precious
clear water could be reached by a row of steps.
These structures and arrangements clearly point out the character of this
mysterious grotto; it was not a sanctuary, but an arrangement whereby the hidden
water springs of a natural cave were adapted to the more noble and luxurious
function of a nymphaeum. Its decoration cannot have been less refined than the
one we have recognized in another nymphaeum, that of "Grotta
dell'Arsenale": the evidence of mosaic tesserae of glass paste,
incrustations imitating stalactites and mother of pearl, molluscan shells and
pods which were collected in large amounts during the haphazard explorations of
antiquarians and so-called archaeologists, proves that the semicircular plinths,
the walls and the vault were covered here too with a flashy polychrome
decoration of stuccoes and mosaics, according to the taste and the fashion of
the Hellenistic nymphaea which were adopted by the Romans in their finer town
houses and in their most sumptuous villas.
BLUE GROTTO AND TOUR AROUND CAPRI ISLAND
The isle of Capri boat tour starts from Marina Grande, from the
small jetty crossing the harbour wharf. Travelling west, we flank the beach of
Marina Grande and of Bagni di Tiberio. The next stretch of coastline consist of
the high calcareous cliff with fissures and grottoes covered by lush, indigenous
vegetation.After passing Punta Gradola, we reach the Blue Grotto.
Continuing our trip westwards, we pass by Cala del Rio, the largest creek on the
western side of the island, and Cala Tombosiello, better known as Cala di Limmo.
After rounding the Lighthouse of Punta Carena, we proceed untilo we reach : the
Saints Grotto, inside which calcareous erosion and action of the sea have
created schapes that resemble statues with a religious theme; the red grotto so
named because of the dark colour of the water produced by the seaweed and
underwater influorescence; and the Green Grotto, with its multitude of colour
and light effects.
Passing Cala di Torre Saracena, beneath Via Krupp, appears the Arsenal Grotto,
which was used as a temple and nymphaeum in Roman times .Its name is derived
from the military use to which it was put during the Middle Ages and even more
recently.
About 200 m. fuhrter to the east, below the Cathusian monastery of San Giacomo,
we find the Dark Grotto, access to which was obstructed by a landslide, that it
the tower guarding the Chartusian monastery in 1808. Alittle further on, in a
small protected inlet, lies the grotto known as the Sailorss Hotel, which was
used by fishermen as a schelter during sudden storms.
After rounding Punta di Tragara with the Faraglioni rocks, we soon arrive at the
small harbour of Tragara. The solitary rock on the opposite side is known as the
Monacone.
Proceding towards Cala del Fico, in front of Punta Massullo, on which Villa
Malaparte stands, and after rounding Cala di Matermania, at the foot of the
large amphiteatre covery in greenery, we reach the White Grotto and the
Marvellous Grotto . One can be reached from the sea, and the other by steps with
a landing stage. They both provide extraordinary light effects due to the
reflections of the water on the weird stalactit formations.
Beyond Punta del Capo, we flank a stretch of coastline with large rocky boulders
after which the Scoglio della Ricotta. This is followed by the last inlet
before returning to Marina Grande, Marina di Caterola, whose reef was produced
in 1971 by the crumbling of the overlyng calcareous ridge.
Not the discovery, but the
revelation of the "Blue Grotto" is to be credited to the romantic
disposition of two German tourists who visited Capri in 1826: Augustus Kopisch,
a writer, and Ernst Fries, a painter. The Grotta was, however, already known
locally as "Grotta Grądola", the name being taken from the
neighbouring ancient landing place of "Grądola" and "Gradelle",
even though it was avoided as a weird and bewitched place not so much because of
its narrow access, as because of the legends about monsters and witches that
dwelt in it. At all events, paying their due to the daring of the two German
travellers, to their guide, a fisherman Angelo Ferraro nicknamed
"Riccio", to Giuseppe Pagano, a notary who provided them with Latin
inscriptions and good wine, to the donkey-man who strapped on the tubs, the
Greek fire and all that was required for the exploration, their chief merit was
that of bestowing a new name: "Grotta Azzurra" that was bound to
translate itself, as it actually did, into a countless series of enthusiastic
descriptions more or less rhapsodical, of coloured lithographs, of water colours,
oil paintings and earthenware and more simply of postcards which have ended by
tinting with azure every show or exhibition concerned with Capri. The lucky
concurrence of geological and spelaeological conditions have endowed the grotto
with a twofold enchantment. The cave sank during a geological age 15-20 metres
below the present sea level and thus blocked every opening through which light
might enter directly, except the narrow breach of access with the result that
both the cavity of the grotto and the sea basin that is enclosed in it acquired
two different and magical colours, for, on one side the sunlight penetrating
from below through a veil of sea water springs out and is reflected onto the
sides and the vault of the grotto coloured with azure; and on the other side,
this light being reflected by the white sandy bottom of the grotto renders the
water strangely opalescent so that any object that is bathed in it drips and
vibrates with a silvery light. Already the first explorers clearly realized that
the Romans not only knew the Blue Grotto, but had made it the object of
particular investigations, though the type of their researches was obscure. It
is necessary to add, that since the hypothesis according to which the cave has
sunk 6 or 7 metres deeper since the Roman age is untenable, the conditions of
the grotto were the same as they are to-day in the days of Augustus and Tiberius.
And a careful study of the remains of Roman works inside the grotto and of the
ancient structures on the outside, may assist us to understand what the
"Blue Grotto" meant to the Romans. Owing to the fascination of the
coloured lights and the shortness of the time due to the throng of tourists, few
visitors notice that along the end wall facing the breach of access the Grotta
lengthens out into a rocky cavity about a metre about water level, and that this
cavity is accessible by a small landing step covered by Roman concrete work;
while a square opening in the shape of a window which is accessible from a step
evidently cut by human hands is opened in the wall of the rock just opposite the
entrance. The rocky landing step and the square opening seem to be made on
purpose to permit people to land and to enjoy comfortably from the land the
fascinatingly clear basin of azure. But this square hollows reaches deeper into
the roots of the mountain becoming an increasingly winding and narrow cuniculus;
and the slabs of rock heaped at its sides suggest that the Romans opened this
tunnel searching for spring water and abandoned it after a toilsome and
fruitless exploration. Above and about the outside of the Grotta, on the lowest
reach of the mountain are to be seen the remains of a small Roman villa
("Villa di Grądola" or "Gradelle") having several rooms and
a few cisterns, that in its plan and in its structure is similar to the other
villas of the Augustan-Tiberian period. Therefore in Capri, the Romans not only knew the
"Blue Grotto" and probably cut the narrow gap through which it is
possible nowadays to enter it, but meant to render a visit to it easier and more
restful by building a villa above it in a place that still looks wild and
inaccessible and that offers no shelter even for small boats. They also tried
unsuccessfully to catch a vein of spring water to be used perhaps in one of
those fish ponds into which both fresh and sea water flowed. But since the
"Blue Grotto" and the small Villa Grądola are below the imposing
"Villa di Damecuta" that is raised above on the "Arcčra"
headland, it is obvious to suppose that the Grotta with its "Grądola"
landing place and the "Villa di Damecuta" above, formed a single unit
in which the "Blue Grotto" merely represented the natural sea side
"nymphaeum" of the large Villa above, a "nymphaeum" that was
accessible from the sea, and perhaps also from the land by a more secret road
that has now crumbled. Thus the "Blue Grotto" was the model which
inspired the plan and the decoration of all the other rocky "nymphaea"
in the island to the Romans, who by covering the walls and the vaults with
mosaics, endeavoured to reproduce the inimitable colour of that pond that was
the natural home of Glaucus and of his blue-haired retinue of Nereids.
CAPRI, AUGUSTUS GARDENS AND CARTHUSIA MONASTERY
The Gardens of Augustus are only few minutes walk from the Piazzetta,
near the Via Krupp, the road which was the idea of A. F. Krupp, the German steel
industrialist, who for this end- purchased the Fondo Certosa (Certosa
Estate), on a part of which rise the Gardens.
The road -today still closed to the public- was built in 1902 on a project by
Emilio Mayer. It starts here and characteristically zig-zags its way to Marina
Piccola. According to architect R. Pane, it proves that even a road can be a
work of art.
The Certosa of San Giacomo (Carthusian Monastery) is only few steps from the
Gardens. It was founded in 1371 by Count Giacomo Arcucci, secretary to the Queen
Giovanna I of Naples. The monumental building marks an incomparable moment in
the traditional architecture of Capri island.
The charming and panoramic Via Tragara leads to a Belvedere bearing the same
name and to the Faraglioni rocks lower down.
ANACAPRI: LA MIGLIERA
The current road retraces the ancient route of the Roman road which from
Capodimonte, the limit of the Graeco-Roman staircase, crossed the higher part of
the territory of Anacapri to reach the Belvedere overhanging the Tuoro and Limmo
creeks. The Limmo creek culminated in Punta Carena and the Lighthouse. Until the
last century, fragments of coloured plaster and construction work belonging to a
Roman settlement could be seen in this spot.
ANACAPRI: PUNTA CARENA FARO (Lighthouse)
A seaside resort and landing place, this picturesque inlet situated to the
west of the island, is set in a typically Mediterranean landscape. The
lighthouse, which was built over a century ago, is the second largest in Italy
in terms of size and power after Genoas.
ANACAPRI: MOUNT SOLARO
The station of the chairlift is situed in Anacapri, in Caposcuro street ,
near Piazza Vittoria. By chairlift (in 20 mins.) is possible to reach the
highest point of the island Mount Solaro (1932 feet). From the summit an
incoparable aerial view can be seen of the island and the Gulfs of Neaples and
Salerno.
ANACAPRI:THE FORTS PATH (Fortini)
The path starts from Punta Carena (or Punta dell'Arcera) and winds along the
western coast of the island until it ends near Punta dellArcera, below the
road that leads from Anacapri to Grotta Azzurra. Along the path, in the
fascinating colours of the Mediterranean flora, set among the little
promontories of wild beauty and bays of turquoise water, one finds the small
forts of Pino, Mčsola and Órrico, dating from the period of the Saracen raids.
(about 3 hours on foot).
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