Via Camerelle in Capri

About this activity

Near Capri's famous Piazza Umberto I, next to the grand hotel Quisisana, you will find Via Camerelle. The latter is also known as the street of shopping and big names.

This area of the island embodies the mundane and refined side of Capri: by day you can leisurely stroll and store among the quaint craft stores and other stores, while at night Via Camerelle is colored with music and lights thanks to the various restaurants and nightclubs that welcome Capri's nightlife.

Besides being one of the mandatory stops for those who want to visit the center of the island, it is also a point of strategic transition to easily reach the Charterhouse of St. James and the Belvedere of Tragara, a forecourt from which you can admire the unforgettable Faraglioni.

Capri is unique because it is sea, history, extraordinary views, beaches, flowers and gardens, as well as fashion, luxury and frivolity: those who visit it are able to savor and experience different realities simply by walking through its narrow streets.

Why visit Camerelle Street

Walking along this street, you will find some buildings whose origins go back a long way.

Pompeian Villa was built in 1879 on a Tiberian cistern and the structure references typical roman mansions, while Villa Jenny, built by the American Giorgio Cerio in honor of his wife, is characterized by a lodge rich in columns and a wonderful porch paved with polychrome marbles Of Roman origin. In spite of all this, unfortunately, their love story did not have a happy ending.

Also very famous on Capri is the Chantecler Boutique, named for the nickname of the owner Peter Capuano. The latter was an enterprising jeweler Neapolitan, accustomed from his youth to selling precious stones to wealthy visitors to the island. Chantecler one day made a metal and silver bell at the request of Americans, and this work was so successful that it soon became the symbol and good luck charm of his store. After opening the boutique in Via Camerelle in 1947, in 1952 he moved to a more central area in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, where it is still open today.

The history of Camerelle Street

Don't let the modern look of this street fool you: beneath the red-and-white-dyed stores lie centuries of history. Camerelle Street is the heir to the historic Via Anticaglia, a trail built already in Roman era on the slopes of the Mount Tuoro.

Via Anticaglia assumed the name by which we know it today in the 18th century. The original Roman embankment rested on about forty arches closed on three sides, the camerelle, about whose origins there are several theories: the most credited one refers to the various cisterns on the route built in Roman times, necessary to collect water and to run pipes.

Other hypotheses, however, lead to a series of rooms attached in a single wall that started from the Mount Castiglione to arrive at the promontory of Punta Tragara. In this regard even today there is no certainty as to their functionality. Some scholars, in fact, have confused the camerelle with sellarie, that is, salons used for prostitution, which were mentioned by Suetonius in the biography on theemperor Tiberius.

Of course, over time the structure of the chambers, originally made with Roman marble, has changed or adapted to the needs of the modern world. As early as the Middle Ages, the cisterns had been opened on the front to turn them into storerooms, while today they are mainly used as stores.

The quiet reality of the street underwent a real transformation starting in the 20th century, a period when tourism on the island intensified. From this time onward, redevelopment works began in the area, which is why we speak of the "first golden phase" of Via Camerelle: in 1845 the famous Quisisana hotel was born, whose kitchens initially occupied some of the small rooms overlooking the street; later, the first small stores, workshops, and a wonderful garden were built in place of a fallow space.

Probably the first artisan who revolutionized the relationship between tourism and commerce in the street was Gennaro Canfora, who opened a store of luxury handmade shoes made on the spot, leaving tourists with a lovely souvenir of Capri.

The street experienced its second golden phase in the 1940s, at the turn of World War II. Soon the Quisisana Hotel was chosen as the headquarters of the Americans who arrived on the island after the landing in Sicily: from this time on, the Allies became real tourists, stimulating the ideas and initiatives of the islanders with their requests.

This period was decisive for the future of Via Camerelle and the entire island, which is now still confirmed as a major destination for mass tourism.