Villa San Michele

Just a boat trip and a short taxi drive away from Naples, you are in a different world.

Capri is fine. It is beautiful and beyond. It reminds me of the Amalfi Coast, and you get why it is so crowded. People want to visit because it is so original. There is just nothing quite like it in the whole world.

Once you get off the busy streets and inside the walls of Villa San Michele, you start breathing more deeply and walking more slowly.

The garden is dreamy, it is almost silent. There are not too many people around. You want to sit down and stay.

Villa San Michele was the home of the Swedish physician, psychiatrist and author Axel Munthe, who lived on Capri for more than 56 years. The villa was built on the ruins of an ancient Chapel dedicated to San Michele.

Munthe loved nature and lived connected to it. He kept many pets – different types of dogs, a baboon and an owl – and his home and garden is filled with natural beauty.

It is the type of place you would like to visit every now and then after a long day to clear your head, or on a Sunday morning to get your inspiration fix for the upcoming week.

There is light, there is the sea view, there is a beautiful selection of trees and plants and flowers.

Villa San Michele is also filled with art and ancient objects, all things beautiful and intriguing: fragments of sarcophaguses, busts, Roman paving, skillfully crafted marble and columns.

And there is the famous granite sphinx, gazing out over the whole island. Regardless of what might be happening out in the world, in peace.

Villa San Michele
Viale Axel Munthe, 34
80071 Anacapri NA
Campania – Italia