The wonderful Villa San Michele

About this activity

In the municipality of Anacapri, located on the beautiful island of mermaids, stands the bright and charming Villa San Michele. The complex was the Capri residence of the famous Swedish writer and physician Axel Munthe. The latter designed it following his dream of a house full of light and archaeological finds with an endless panorama of the Bay of Naples stretching at his feet. Today the residence is home to a small and fine museum that piques the curiosity of tourists. A compulsory stop on the island of Capri, it is an evocative and unmissable place where different art forms mingle.

Why visit Villa San Michele

The construction of Villa San Michele began in 1895. This was the year in which the Swedish physician. Axel Mounthe visited the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Michael. The structure stood on a rocky ridge in Anacapri surrounded by the ruins of a Roman villa and a vineyard. The vault was broken through, held up by high walls damaged by the inexorable passage of time. When the doctor saw these remains, however, his dream could come true. Fascinated by the historical richness and the view that surrounded the building, Axel began the long work of restoration. From the nearby Roman villa he drew the architectural artifacts that are still housed inside the museum today.

The result of the long work was truly mind-blowing. The complex, enriched with historical evidence of ancient civilizations and completely surrounded by greenery and the sea, has several levels. The second floor houses what was once the Swedish doctor's private study. A striking loggia, meanwhile, winds among verdant, cool pergolas over which ivy and wisteria plants climb, held up by a marble colonnade. On either side of the stretch hydrangeas, clivias, camellias and rose bushes accompany visitors to a belvedere from which there is a breathtaking view of the entire Bay of Naples.

Inside the complex, now a museum, one can visit a wide variety of really interesting historical and archaeological artifacts.

The beauties of the museum of Villa San Michele

The most famous art object in the Villa San Michele museum is the Cosmic Table with its magnificent mosaic. The term "cosmatic" comes from the name of a family of Roman marble workers who were very famous during the Middle Ages for their spectacular mosaic works. It is said that Axel Mounthe came into possession of this table during one of his trips to Sicily, when he came across a group of women on the banks of a stream, bent over washing their clothes by rubbing them on the top of a beautiful mosaic that dated from between the 12th and 13th centuries. The Swedish doctor, offered them a modern washhouse if in return they would give him the ancient mosaic. The women accepted the proposal, and the Swedish doctor was able to bring to his beautiful residence in Capri the fantastic mosaic displayed, in all its glory, in the loggia of the sculptures.

A Roman work catches the eye. It is the Woman with Child, a mysterious sculpture that dates from between the 13th century BCE to the 5th century CE. The sculpture was probably part of a larger memorial to the family.

Several heads are displayed in niches and corners of the museum. In one niche appears a Ulysses depicted in mature age with wrinkles and beard and on his head the Phrygian cap, a symbol of freedom. The work dates to the first century AD, and on the marble face the smoothing effect of the sea, which has corroded its surface, is evident. This indicates that the sculpture was probably found at sea. On display in the Lodge of Hermes is the sculpture of the god Bacchus. A boyish depiction with a happy expression well suited to the god of intoxication and wine. Opposite the Priapus in the sculpture hall, the work by Tiberius is dated about 2,000 years ago. The valuable work was stolen during 1991 and recovered by law enforcement officials, who returned it to the villa in 2020. Axel Mounthe's studio, on the other hand, displays the head of Jellyfish in white marble, from the Temple of Venus. A Roman copy from 307 AD, the sculpture represents in all its fearsome splendor, the most famous of the three Gorgons. That of Hypnos is finally a very unusual sculpture representing the god of sleep with a wing sprouting from his right ear. Of great symbolic value to Mounthe, who during his studies had learned hypnosis practices to cure hysteria and insomnia.

Between the sculpture hall and the loggia stands the sculpture of Mercury at rest 19th-century copy depicting the messenger of the gods Mercury, or Hermes. The work was given to Munthe by the people of the city of Naples in gratitude for the doctor's work during the cholera epidemic of 1884. The original, however, is on display in the halls of the MANN. Mercury is pictured seated resting on a large rock with small wings on either side of his feet, folded.These and many other works make the Villa San Michele a treasure trove of treasures all waiting to be discovered.

The legendary Sphinx of the Villa San Michele

Among the spectacular works of Villa San Michele is perhaps the Sphinx to be the highlight of the complex. The work of Egyptian red granite is about 3,200 years old and dates back to the time of Ramesses II, who ruled in the 13th century B.C. Displayed at the end of the chapel's porch, it appears to be intent on watching the sea and all the people who unsuspectingly stroll on the island. The mythological creature with the head of a man and the body of a lion appeared to Munthe in a dream one night. Awakened from sleep, the doctor boarded a boat and went in search of the Sphinx. It is not known how he managed to find it and take it with him, but occult powers are attributed to the sculpture. It is said that if one lays a hand on the Sphinx's head and looks at the view while concentrating intensely on a wish, it may come true.

The figure of Axel Munthe

The son of a pharmacist, Axel Munthe was born in 1857 in Oskarshamn. He was such a successful psychiatrist that he became the physician personal of Queen Victoria of Sweden. He also became a world-renowned writer, and his work, entitled The Story of San Michele, has become one of the most widely read books on par with the Koran and the Bible. The book, written in 1929, tells of the long history of the restoration of the complex, now one of Capri's most important destinations.

Axel Munthe in his life also devoted himself to animal protection. He invested a large sum of money to establish a foundation to ban the use of animals in equestrian circus shows and to shut down zoos. He bought Mount Barbarossa behind the Villa San Michele complex to protect from hunting migratory birds that stopped over the territory of the island of Capri.

A lover of nature and an educated man, he was also fond of music. Upon his death, which occurred in 1949, Villa San Michele was donated to the Swedish state.

Things to Know and Curiosities about Villa San Michele

Despite his great love for the island of Capri and its beautiful Villa San Michele, Axel Munthe did not live there for long. The cause was the aggravation of his eye disease, which forced him to live in a darker environment.

Today the villa is owned by a Swedish foundation that has made the residence the home of a highly refined museum. Its green spaces are part of the Great Gardens Italians and during the summer period, evocative classical chamber music events and performances are held here.

Last curiosity. Before the great Egyptian Sphinx was placed to guard the incredible view, there was another sphinx, Etruscan, which was placed later near the entrance to the chapel.

It was the German poet Jean Paul, highly respected by Munthe himself, who compared the island of Capri to the figure of the sphinx. In great probability this is the reason for the choice of precisely a sphinx to symbolize the majestic Villa San Michele.