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My Escapes Italy Naples, Islands, Pizza and Camorra! Capri Capri - the "Gem Island" Anacapri's Attractions
Anacapri's Attractions
The town of Anacapri is found hidden behind the massive Monte Solaro - less visitors to Capri wander to the other side. I stayed there...
It's not less interesting than the town of Capri, but it's slightly different...
Capri's second town was my where I set my base at Hotel Casa Caprile.
Anacapri is quieter, but not less interesting - considering the cablechair access to Monte Solaro.
Some of the island's best places are found here in and around Anacapri. It would be a shame to miss out on this part of the island.
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Monte Solaro
No way should you leave out the experience of seeing Capri's exhilarating panorama from the top of Monte Solaro.
In order to get to the top, you'd either thave to take the cablechair from Anacapri or, climb on a trail (preferably from Anacapri).
It's best you check my full article about Monte Solaro.
The best place for seeing Capri's panorama is Monte Solaro - accessible from Anacapri
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Chiesa di San Michele Archangelo
Located on the Piazza San Nicola, it's a baroque church built between 1698 and 1719.
What's special about it is its floor covered with painted tiles. The paintwork depicts Adam's and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Visitor's aren't allowed to step on the tile-covered floor. You can walk around, along the walls, stepping on specially-created wooden platforms.
The Chiesa di San Michele Archangelo baroque church from interior
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Look so nice, you'd want to eat it
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Under the cupola
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Adam and Eve
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No dinosaurs
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Chiesa di Santa Sofia Vescova
Another Baroque church.
This one's older, built in 1510. It has a beautiful restored facade and the square in front of it is spacious enough to allow photography without a wide angle lens.
The beautiful facade doesn't seem to pass with the roof section. Serious restoration work is needed. But I like the interesting shape of the cupola.
The Chiesa di Santa Sofia Vescova from the front
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Wicked look
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Casa Rossa
The Casa Rosa is a red building constructed between 1876-1899 by an American colonel – J. C. MacKowen.
It stands out from the other buildings due to its deep Pompeian red colour and fortress-like shape.
It's no typical Capri building, but bears a mix of motifs, decorations. It's essentially an artistical creation with lots of weird elements.
It's an odd combination of motifs and decorative elements originating from Italian architecture (similar to many of Capri's other buildings), others are of Moorish and Greek origin and there's a little Art Nouveau too.
The Casa Rossa is an art museum today.
Entry fee is 3 EUR - which I paid and loved the experience. It had that "out of the ordinary" feel.
The building itself is more of an attraction than the items exposed inside.
No doubt, it's definitely worth seeing. I loved the playful architecture of the Casa Rossa.
The roof can also be accessed.
The views around are nice and it's not too high - you can see much of the town from a roof top height instead of taking a bird's eye view. For the latter, go to Monte Solaro's top.
The Casa Rosa has a strong "hispanic accent" - architecturally speaking. Plus: the Moorish elements made me think of Andalucía...
You can notice, the building has a fortress-like feel. The turret part again, seems to be of Hispanic inspiration.
On the building's wall you can also find carvings of Greek words.
As said - it's an art museum: paintings and statues can be found inside - including ancient Roman stone statues from Emperor Tiberius' period.
The ancient human-shaped statues were found in the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) seriously eroded by the sea water and various life forms living in there.
There is a permanent painting exhibition entitled "The Painted Island: A Pictorial Journey to Capri and Anacapri Between the 19th and 20th Century".
I myself loved the building a lot. It was more of an attraction than what's exposed inside.
The rooms are rather small and there are windows with coloured glass. Of course, as the sunlight shines through, rainbow-like rays are projected onto the walls and the ground.
And the rainbow light together with the light interior colours (mostly white) feels refreshing.
Like a red fortress
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"Chunks of art"
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Might as well be Art Nouveau - the style of art was pretty much alive in the 1890's
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Why the morbid zombie face?
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On the roof
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It must be awesome living on Capri
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...like firing holes... these are rather like a fence, protecting you from falling down
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Grotta Azurra/The Blue Grotto
The famous blue cave - a sea cave where the water underneath seems to glow in blue colour (because of the external sunlight, of course).
To see it, you should go to the Marina Grande to take a boat tour.
The Blue Grotto sometimes gets filled with water and won't be suitable for navigating in it.
Villa San Michele
It's a luxurious, specious villa constructed at the spot where once an ancient Roman imperial villa used to be.
Swedish psychiatrist, Axel Munthe built the Villa San Michele and lived there between 1896-1910.
This panoramic views of the town of Capri and Monte Tiberio are gorgeous from up there... there are some pieces of art exposed and the villa also has a garden.
I didn't visit this place, but I wanted to put it on this list, because it is part of Anacapri's main attractions.
The best reason to go there would be to see the views. But you can also enjoy the views (for free) from outside, if you get close to the Phoenician Steps.
About the Author:
Escape Hunter, the young solo traveler in his early 30's explores the World driven by curiosity, thirst for adventure, deep passion for beauty, love for freedom and diversity.
With a nuanced, even humorous approach to travel, an obsession for art and design, Escape Hunter prefers to travel slowly, in order to learn and "soak up" the local atmosphere...
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