Capri Historic center of Anacapri

From Piazza Vittoria, proceeding along the pedestrian road to the left of the Monument in honor of the victims of the war, one finds the Casa Rossa. The Casa Rossa is realized in a mixture of architectural styles with mullioned windows and crenellations. Through the doorway one can glimpse the form of a square tower and arcaded courtyard. The house belonged to the American Colonel, John Cay H. Mackowen, who arrived in Italy immediately after the American Civil War and settled in Anacapri until 1899. He followed the example of Axel Munthe: collecting and conserving within the walls of his residence numerous archaeological artifacts which he managed to recover on the Island of Capri.

Within the walls of the Casa Rossa there is a permanent exhibition entitled "The painted island".
This unique collection offers visitors a number of images of the customs and traditions of every day eighteenth and nineteenth century Capri. The thirty two canvases bear the signatures of Italian and International masters such as Barret, De Montalant, Carabain, Hay, Casciaro, Vianelli, Carelli, Giordano, Federico, Brancaccio, Corrodi, Lovatti, Bentos.

This invaluable collection was purchased by the council of Anacapri from Spiridione and Savo Raskovich, two enthusiasts of the Isola Azzurra who had spent years collecting works with Capri as the main subject. The owners of the paintings preferred to sell the entire collection to the Council of Anacapri rather than divide it and sell the paintings singularly to private buyers. As a consequence, the island is the proud owner a marvelous art museum. The three Ancient Roman statues found in the Grotta Azzurra in 1964 and 1974, have been "on-loan" to the Casa Rossa Museum since 2008.

Continuing along the road, and turning to the left, one enters Piazza San Nicola where there is the entrance of the Church of San Michele, a baroque church dedicated to the Archangel Michael, and part of an ancient monastery. The church was built between the seventeenth and eighteenth century at the same time as the rest of the Teresian complex of which it was an integral part.

The church of St Michele Arcangelo has a beautiful pavement decorated with painted majolica tiles A design attributed to Solimene and executed by the master Chiaieses, this stunning floor painting depicts Adam and Eve in the earthly paradise, immersed in a surreal landscape, featuring imaginary and mythological animal forms such as the Unicorn. The lateral altars containing paintings by Nicola Malinconico, De Matteis and del Po are also considered to be of great artistic importance.

Continuing along Via Orlandi one arrives in Piazza Armando Diaz with its painted majolica benches. This is the square in which public committee meetings were once held. The church in the piazza is the largest in Anacapri. The Church of Santa Sofia was erected in 1510, substituting the previous parish church of St Maria of Constantinople.

It lies in what is now the center of Anacapri, where the population started to gather following its construction. The sacristy and the oratory were obtained from the previous Church of St Carlo, the interior is covered with a barrel vaulted ceiling and has two side chapels which were added to the building at the end of the seventeenth century. The two bell towers and presbytery were completed in 1878.