History of Capri
Encyclopedia
The island of Capri
is situated in the Gulf of Naples
, between the Italian Peninsula
and the islands of Procida
and Ischia
. Made of limestone, its lowest part is at the center, while its sides are high and mostly surrounded by steep precipices, where there are numerous caves. Its topography is dominated by the slopes of the Monte Solaro
in the West and Monte St Michele in the East.
The historian and Greek geographer
Strabo
thought that Capri broke off from the mainland. His theory has been confirmed recently, both from geologic findings that link the island with the Sorrento Peninsula and from archaeological discoveries.
(75–140) who describes the interest shown by the emperor Augustus in preserving the remains of primordial life found in his house in Capri, and who created the first museum of paleontology
and paleoanthropology
(Caesarum Vitae, 2, 72).
The earliest mythical inhabitants were the Teleboi from Acarnania
under their king Telon. Neolithic remains were found in 1882 in the Grotta delle Felci, a cave on the south coast. In historical times the island was occupied by Greeks who from the eighth century BC onwards, according to Livy
(8, 22, 5–6), first settled on the island of Ischia and the mainland, at Cumae
, and later came to Capri. The historian Strabo
wrote that "in ancient times there were two towns in Capri, which were later reduced to one" (Geography, 5, 4, 9, 38).
Surely one of the two towns was located where today is the town Capri. This is confirmed by the remains of fortification walls, built with large limestone boulders at the bottom and square blocks at the top, visible from the terrace of the funicular railway, and a building at the foot of Castiglione, and these, together with other buildings gone now destroyed, complete the old town (5th to 4th century BC).
Regarding the second city, many hypotheses have been advanced, but the most reliable is that even then it was Anacapri, based on the existence of the Phoenician Steps
that connect to the port. Please note that, despite its name, the steps cannot not have been built by the Phoenicians, but by Greek colonists.
Since its first settlement, therefore, the natural shape of the island led to the creation of two communities, one in the East with hills sloping down towards the sea to the North and South, and one to the West on a large plateau, the steep slopes of Monte Solaro and with no access to the sea.
Capri subsequently fell into the hands of Neapolis (the former Greek colony
called Naples
today) and remained so until the time of Augustus, who took it in exchange for Aenaria (Ischia
) and often resided there.
, who spent the last ten years of his life at Capri, built no fewer than twelve villas there. Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century. All these villas can be identified with more or less certainty, the best preserved being those on the East extremity, consisting of a large number of vaulted substructures and the foundations perhaps of a Pharos (lighthouse). One was known as Villa Jovis
, and the other eleven were probably named after other deities. The existence of numerous ancient cisterns shows that in Roman as in modern times rain-water was largely used for lack of springs. South of the main building there are remains of a watch tower for the quick telegraphic exchange of messages with the mainland.
Apparently the main motivation for Tiberius' move from Rome to Capri was his wariness with the political manoeuvring in Rome and a lingering fear of assassination. The villa is situated at a very secluded spot of the island and the quarters of Tiberius in the north and east of the palatial villa were particularly difficult to reach and heavily guarded.
The Villa Jovis is also, at least according to Suetonius
, the place where Tiberius engaged in wild debauchery. Many modern historians regard these tales as merely vicious slander by Tiberius's detractors and these historians believe he in fact he lived a modest, reclusive existence on the island.
After Tiberius's death the island seems to have been little visited by the emperors, and we hear of it only as a place of banishment for the wife and sister of Commodus
. The island, having been at first the property of Neapolis, and later of the emperors, never had upon it any community with civic rights. Even in imperial times Greek was largely spoken there, for about as many Greek as Latin inscriptions have been found.
gave the island to Amalfi
. The political dependence of Capri to Amalfi, which had relations to the Eastern Mediterranean
, is particularly evident in art and architecture, in which Byzantine and Islamic forms appeared. In 987 the first Caprese bishop was consecrated by Pope John XV
.
In 1496, Frederick IV of Naples
established legal and administrative parity between the two settlements of Capri and Anacapri. Pirate raids by the Barbary corsairs
reached their peak during the reign of Charles V
. The medieval town was on the north side at the chief landing-place (Marina Grande), and to it belonged the church of S. Costanzo, an early Christian building. It was abandoned in the 15th century on account of the inroads of pirates, and the inhabitants took refuge higher up at the two towns of Capri and Anacapri. The pirate Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, called Barbarossa, plundered and burned Capri seven times. The worst raid occurred in 1535, when Barbarossa captured the island for the Ottoman Empire and had Anacapri castle burned down, the ruins of which are now called Barbarossa Castle. (This castle is on the property of Villa San Michele
today.) In 1553 a second invasion by Turgut Reis
resulted in another capture and in the looting and destruction of Certosa di San Giacomo- The danger of such attacks led Charles V to allow the inhabitants to go armed, and new towers were built to defend the island. Only the defeat of the pirates by the French in 1830 ended this threat.
A famous visitor to the island was the French antiques dealer Jean Jacques Bouchard in the 17th century, who may be considered Capri's first tourist. His diary, found in 1850, is an important information source about Capri.
In 1806 the island was taken by the English fleet under Sir Sidney Smith, and strongly fortified, but in 1808 it was retaken by the French under Lamarque. By a simulated attack on the two docks of Marina Grande and Marina Piccola, British attention was diverted from the west coast, where the French were able to scale the cliffs and forced the enemy to surrender. In 1813 Capri was restored to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Capri became a popular resort for European artists, writers and other celebrities, such as Norman Douglas
, Friedrich Alfred Krupp
, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen
, Christian Wilhelm Allers
, Emil von Behring, Curzio Malaparte
, Axel Munthe
, and Maxim Gorky
. The book that spawned the 19th century fascination with Capri in France, Germany, and England was Entdeckung der Blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri, 'Discovery of the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri', by the German painter and writer August Kopisch
, in which he describes his 1826 stay on Capri and his (re)discovery of the Blue Grotto.
Also in the 19th century, the natural scientist Ignazio Cerio
catalogued the flora
and fauna
of the island.
wrote the roman à clef
Et le feu s’èteignit sur le mer (1910), causing a minor scandal. Fersen's life on Capri became the subject of Roger Peyrefitte
's fictionalised biography, L'Exile de Capri. Norman Douglas
's novel South Wind
is a thinly fictionalized description of Capri's residents and visitors, and a number of his other works, both books and pamphlets, deal with the island, including Capri (1930) and his last work, A Footnote on Capri (1952). A satirical presentation of the island's lesbian colony in the 1920s is made in Compton Mackenzie
's novel Extraordinary Women (1928).
Ignazio Cerio's son, the author and engineer Edwin Cerio
, wrote several books about life on Capri and also continued the work of his father in cataloging the local flora and fauna. In 1920, as a self-proclaimed Liberal at a time when the Fascists were gaining ground in the rest of Italy, he was elected as Mayor of Capri. Although he held this post for just three years, he made an enormous impact on the way that the island would be governed for the rest of the century. To prevent Milanese property developers from destroying the traditional ambience of Capri, he organised (in 1922) a "conference for the defence of the landscape", whose planning groundrules continue to influence the government of Capri to this day. His passionate opposition to what he called the "sharks" who were building hotels, apartment blocks and department stores was not popular with everyone, however, and in 1923 he was voted out of office.
In 1995, the Capri Film Festival was founded, which takes place every December and attracts both Italian and foreign filmmakerss as well as Hollywood stars. Since 2006, there is also a Capri Art Film Festival.
The early 2000s saw the addition of two tourist destinations: In the Northeast, Villa Lysis
, which had been derelict for decades, was meticulously restored to serve as a cultural center and museum; in the Southwest near the Southern coast, Capri Philosophical Park
opened, showcasing quotes by 60 different Western philosophers.
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
is situated in the Gulf of Naples
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
, between the Italian Peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
and the islands of Procida
Procida
Procida is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a comune of the province of Naples, in the region of Campania. The population is about ten...
and Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
. Made of limestone, its lowest part is at the center, while its sides are high and mostly surrounded by steep precipices, where there are numerous caves. Its topography is dominated by the slopes of the Monte Solaro
Monte Solaro
Monte Solaro is a mountain on the island of Capri in Campania, Italy. With an elevation of 589 m, its peak is the highest point of Capri.-Geology and Topography:...
in the West and Monte St Michele in the East.
The historian and Greek geographer
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
thought that Capri broke off from the mainland. His theory has been confirmed recently, both from geologic findings that link the island with the Sorrento Peninsula and from archaeological discoveries.
Prehistory and Greek period
The first discoveries of the prehistoric age were more than two thousand years ago, when, in Roman age, from the diggings for the construction of the first imperial factories first came to light remains of animals that disappeared tens of thousands of years ago and traces of life of primitive man from the Stone Age. The story is documented by the historian SuetoniusSuetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
(75–140) who describes the interest shown by the emperor Augustus in preserving the remains of primordial life found in his house in Capri, and who created the first museum of paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...
(Caesarum Vitae, 2, 72).
The earliest mythical inhabitants were the Teleboi from Acarnania
Acarnania
Acarnania is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital...
under their king Telon. Neolithic remains were found in 1882 in the Grotta delle Felci, a cave on the south coast. In historical times the island was occupied by Greeks who from the eighth century BC onwards, according to Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(8, 22, 5–6), first settled on the island of Ischia and the mainland, at Cumae
Cumae
Cumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy , and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl...
, and later came to Capri. The historian Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
wrote that "in ancient times there were two towns in Capri, which were later reduced to one" (Geography, 5, 4, 9, 38).
Surely one of the two towns was located where today is the town Capri. This is confirmed by the remains of fortification walls, built with large limestone boulders at the bottom and square blocks at the top, visible from the terrace of the funicular railway, and a building at the foot of Castiglione, and these, together with other buildings gone now destroyed, complete the old town (5th to 4th century BC).
Regarding the second city, many hypotheses have been advanced, but the most reliable is that even then it was Anacapri, based on the existence of the Phoenician Steps
Phoenician Steps
The Phoenician Steps of Capri are a long and steep stone stairway that unites the population center of Capri with that of Anacapri...
that connect to the port. Please note that, despite its name, the steps cannot not have been built by the Phoenicians, but by Greek colonists.
Since its first settlement, therefore, the natural shape of the island led to the creation of two communities, one in the East with hills sloping down towards the sea to the North and South, and one to the West on a large plateau, the steep slopes of Monte Solaro and with no access to the sea.
Capri subsequently fell into the hands of Neapolis (the former Greek colony
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
called Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
today) and remained so until the time of Augustus, who took it in exchange for Aenaria (Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
) and often resided there.
Roman period
TiberiusTiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, who spent the last ten years of his life at Capri, built no fewer than twelve villas there. Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century. All these villas can be identified with more or less certainty, the best preserved being those on the East extremity, consisting of a large number of vaulted substructures and the foundations perhaps of a Pharos (lighthouse). One was known as Villa Jovis
Villa Jovis
Villa Jovis is a Roman palace on Capri, southern Italy, built by emperor Tiberius who ruled from there between AD 27 and AD 37...
, and the other eleven were probably named after other deities. The existence of numerous ancient cisterns shows that in Roman as in modern times rain-water was largely used for lack of springs. South of the main building there are remains of a watch tower for the quick telegraphic exchange of messages with the mainland.
Apparently the main motivation for Tiberius' move from Rome to Capri was his wariness with the political manoeuvring in Rome and a lingering fear of assassination. The villa is situated at a very secluded spot of the island and the quarters of Tiberius in the north and east of the palatial villa were particularly difficult to reach and heavily guarded.
The Villa Jovis is also, at least according to Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars
De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
, the place where Tiberius engaged in wild debauchery. Many modern historians regard these tales as merely vicious slander by Tiberius's detractors and these historians believe he in fact he lived a modest, reclusive existence on the island.
After Tiberius's death the island seems to have been little visited by the emperors, and we hear of it only as a place of banishment for the wife and sister of Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
. The island, having been at first the property of Neapolis, and later of the emperors, never had upon it any community with civic rights. Even in imperial times Greek was largely spoken there, for about as many Greek as Latin inscriptions have been found.
From the Middle Ages to the 19th century
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 IILouis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis II the Younger was the King of Italy and Roman Emperor from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was imperator augustus , but he used imperator Romanorum after his conquest of Bari in 871, which led to poor relations with Byzantium...
gave the island to Amalfi
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...
. The political dependence of Capri to Amalfi, which had relations to the Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a term that denotes the countries geographically to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. This region is also known as Greater Syria or the Levant....
, is particularly evident in art and architecture, in which Byzantine and Islamic forms appeared. In 987 the first Caprese bishop was consecrated by Pope John XV
Pope John XV
Pope John XV , Pope from 985 to 996, succeeding Boniface VII . He was said to have been Pope after another Pope John that reigned four months after Pope John XIV and was named "Papa Ioannes XIV Bis" or "Pope John XIVb"...
.
In 1496, Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV , sometimes known as Frederick I or Federico d'Aragona, was the last King of Naples of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501...
established legal and administrative parity between the two settlements of Capri and Anacapri. Pirate raids by the Barbary corsairs
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
reached their peak during the reign of Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. The medieval town was on the north side at the chief landing-place (Marina Grande), and to it belonged the church of S. Costanzo, an early Christian building. It was abandoned in the 15th century on account of the inroads of pirates, and the inhabitants took refuge higher up at the two towns of Capri and Anacapri. The pirate Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, called Barbarossa, plundered and burned Capri seven times. The worst raid occurred in 1535, when Barbarossa captured the island for the Ottoman Empire and had Anacapri castle burned down, the ruins of which are now called Barbarossa Castle. (This castle is on the property of Villa San Michele
Villa San Michele
The Villa San Michele was built around the turn of the 20th century by the Swedish physician, Axel Munthe, on the ruins of the Roman Emperor Tiberius's villa, on the Isle of Capri, Italy. Its gardens have panoramic views of Capri town and its marina, the Sorrentine Peninsula and Mount Vesuvius...
today.) In 1553 a second invasion by Turgut Reis
Turgut Reis
Turgut Reis was an Ottoman Admiral and privateer who also served as Bey of Algiers; Beylerbey of the Mediterranean; and first Bey, later Pasha, of Tripoli. Under his naval command the Ottoman Empire maritime was extended across North Africa...
resulted in another capture and in the looting and destruction of Certosa di San Giacomo- The danger of such attacks led Charles V to allow the inhabitants to go armed, and new towers were built to defend the island. Only the defeat of the pirates by the French in 1830 ended this threat.
A famous visitor to the island was the French antiques dealer Jean Jacques Bouchard in the 17th century, who may be considered Capri's first tourist. His diary, found in 1850, is an important information source about Capri.
In 1806 the island was taken by the English fleet under Sir Sidney Smith, and strongly fortified, but in 1808 it was retaken by the French under Lamarque. By a simulated attack on the two docks of Marina Grande and Marina Piccola, British attention was diverted from the west coast, where the French were able to scale the cliffs and forced the enemy to surrender. In 1813 Capri was restored to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Capri became a popular resort for European artists, writers and other celebrities, such as Norman Douglas
Norman Douglas
George Norman Douglas was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel South Wind.-Life:Norman Douglas was born in Thüringen, Austria . His mother was Vanda von Poellnitz...
, Friedrich Alfred Krupp
Friedrich Alfred Krupp
Friedrich Alfred Krupp was a German steel manufacturer of the company Krupp.- Biography :Krupp was born in Essen, Germany. His father was Alfred Krupp. In 1887, Friedrich took over the leadership of his father's company. He married Margarethe Krupp...
, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen
Jacques d'Adelsward-Fersen
Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was a novelist and poet of the early 20th century; his modern fame is based on a mid-century fictionalised biography by Roger Peyrefitte....
, Christian Wilhelm Allers
Christian Wilhelm Allers
Christian Wilhelm Allers was a German painter and printmaker.-Biography:Allers, the son of a merchant, was born in Hamburg. He first worked as a lithographer, and in 1877 he moved to Karlsruhe where he continued to work as a lithographer. In the Kunstakademie he was a scholar of Prof...
, Emil von Behring, Curzio Malaparte
Curzio Malaparte
Curzio Malaparte , born Kurt Erich Suckert, was an Italian journalist, dramatist, short-story writer, novelist and diplomat...
, Axel Munthe
Axel Munthe
Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe was a Swedish psychiatrist, best known as the author of The Story of San Michele, an autobiographical account of his life and work....
, and Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
. The book that spawned the 19th century fascination with Capri in France, Germany, and England was Entdeckung der Blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri, 'Discovery of the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri', by the German painter and writer August Kopisch
August Kopisch
August Kopisch , was a German poet and painter.-Biography:Kopisch was born on 26 May 1799 in Breslau, Prussia...
, in which he describes his 1826 stay on Capri and his (re)discovery of the Blue Grotto.
Also in the 19th century, the natural scientist Ignazio Cerio
Ignazio Cerio
Ignazio Cerio was an influential but eccentric physician and amateur philosopher on the island of Capri, in Italy. His father, imprisoned for his liberal beliefs, had spent his time in jail devising chemical concoctions and mechanical constructions that would never be made; Ignazio continued the...
catalogued the flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
of the island.
20th and 21st centuries
Several, to some degree satirical, novels were written about Capri in the early 20th century by those authors who lived here like Fersen, Douglas, and Mackenzie: Jacques d'Adelswärd-FersenJacques d'Adelsward-Fersen
Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was a novelist and poet of the early 20th century; his modern fame is based on a mid-century fictionalised biography by Roger Peyrefitte....
wrote the roman à clef
Roman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
Et le feu s’èteignit sur le mer (1910), causing a minor scandal. Fersen's life on Capri became the subject of Roger Peyrefitte
Roger Peyrefitte
Roger Peyrefitte was a French diplomat, writer of bestseller novels and gossipy non-fiction, and a defender of gay rights.-Life and work:...
's fictionalised biography, L'Exile de Capri. Norman Douglas
Norman Douglas
George Norman Douglas was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel South Wind.-Life:Norman Douglas was born in Thüringen, Austria . His mother was Vanda von Poellnitz...
's novel South Wind
South Wind (novel)
South Wind is a 1917 novel by British author Norman Douglas. It is Douglas' most famous book. It is set on an imaginary island called Nepenthe, located off the coast of Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a thinly fictionalized description of Capri's residents and visitors...
is a thinly fictionalized description of Capri's residents and visitors, and a number of his other works, both books and pamphlets, deal with the island, including Capri (1930) and his last work, A Footnote on Capri (1952). A satirical presentation of the island's lesbian colony in the 1920s is made in Compton Mackenzie
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...
's novel Extraordinary Women (1928).
Ignazio Cerio's son, the author and engineer Edwin Cerio
Edwin Cerio
Edwin Cerio was a prominent Italian writer, engineer, architect, historian, and botanist. He was born on the island of Capri to an English artist mother and a well-known local physician, Ignazio Cerio.-Early life:...
, wrote several books about life on Capri and also continued the work of his father in cataloging the local flora and fauna. In 1920, as a self-proclaimed Liberal at a time when the Fascists were gaining ground in the rest of Italy, he was elected as Mayor of Capri. Although he held this post for just three years, he made an enormous impact on the way that the island would be governed for the rest of the century. To prevent Milanese property developers from destroying the traditional ambience of Capri, he organised (in 1922) a "conference for the defence of the landscape", whose planning groundrules continue to influence the government of Capri to this day. His passionate opposition to what he called the "sharks" who were building hotels, apartment blocks and department stores was not popular with everyone, however, and in 1923 he was voted out of office.
In 1995, the Capri Film Festival was founded, which takes place every December and attracts both Italian and foreign filmmakerss as well as Hollywood stars. Since 2006, there is also a Capri Art Film Festival.
The early 2000s saw the addition of two tourist destinations: In the Northeast, Villa Lysis
Villa Lysis
Villa Lysis — initially called La Gloriette, today also known as Villa Fersen — is a villa on Capri built by industrialist and poet Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen in 1905...
, which had been derelict for decades, was meticulously restored to serve as a cultural center and museum; in the Southwest near the Southern coast, Capri Philosophical Park
Capri Philosophical Park
Capri Philosophical Park is situated on the outskirts of the smalltown of Anacapri on the Italian island of Capri.The park was founded in 2000 by the Swedish professor and author Gunnar Adler-Karlsson together with his wife....
opened, showcasing quotes by 60 different Western philosophers.