Top Historic Sights in Capri, Italy
Explore the historic highlights of Capri
Augustus Gardens
The Gardens of Augustus, originally known by the name of Krupp Gardens, are botanical gardens on the island of Capri. The gardens were established by the German industrialist Friedrich Alfred Krupp in the early twentieth century to build his mansion in Capri. The gardens, designed in terraces overlooking the sea, can be considered a testament to the rich flora of the island of Capri, with various ornamental plants a ...San Giacomo Monastery
Certosa di San Giacomo is a Carthusian monastery on the island of Capri. Count Giacomo Arcucci, a secretary to Joan I of Naples, established the charterhouse in 1371. He later became a monk himself in 1386. In 1553 the monastery was restored and fortified and a tower was erected which collapsed in the 18th century. There was often conflict between the islanders and the monks, who owned land as well as grazing and h ...Villa San Michele
The Villa San Michele was built around the turn of the 19th century on the Isle of Capri by the Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe. The villa"s gardens have panoramic views of the town of Capri and its harbour, the Sorrentine Peninsula, and Mount Vesuvius. The villa sits on a ledge at the top of the Phoenician Steps, between Anacapri and Capri, at a height of 327 meters above sea level. San Michel ...Castello Barbarossa
Castello Barbarossa is an archaeological ruin and ornithological station on the island of Capri. It derives its name from the pirate and Ottoman admiral, Hayreddin, nicknamed Barbarossa ('Redbeard'), who stormed it in 1535 and destroyed it in 1544. The construction date is uncertain but it perhaps dates back to the late ninth century. From 1898, the structure, now in ruins, was owned by the Swedish psychiat ...Villa Jovis
Villa Jovis is a Roman palace on Capri, southern Italy, built by emperor Tiberius and completed in AD 27. Tiberius mainly ruled from there until his death in AD 37. Villa Jovis is the largest of the twelve Tiberian villas on Capri mentioned by Tacitus. The entire complex, spanning several terraces and a difference in elevation of about 40 m, covers some 7,000 m² (1.7 acres). While the remaining eight levels of w ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre
Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.
Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.
Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.