Villa San Michele, Capri

Villa San Michele is a carefully curated museum filled with classical relics. Built in the late 19th century by the Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe, the villa occupies a perch atop Capri, at an altitude of around 327 meters. The location delivers panoramic views over Big Marina, the Sorrentine Peninsula, and even Mount Vesuvius on clear days.

Munthe collected ancient artifacts-Roman, Etruscan, and Egyptian-and incorporated them into his garden and interiors. Among the most mysterious treasures is an Egyptian sphinx over 3,000 years old, posed to gaze out across the bay.

Munthe’s villa was inspired by his youthful enchantment with the island. He first visited Capri at 19, climbing the 777 Phoenician Steps and falling in love with the scenery and light. By the 1890s, after a flourishing medical career, he was even physician to Swedish royalty, he began constructing his dream on the ruins of a chapel dedicated to Saint Michael. He famously declared that his home should be open to “sun, wind, and the voices of the sea… like a Greek temple, and light, light, light everywhere!”.

Inside, Villa San Michele provides visitors with a clear sense of Axel Munthe’s personal world and aesthetic ideals. Today it functions as a house museum, where original furnishings, mosaics, and collected artifacts are displayed in their original context rather than in a formal gallery. The surrounding gardens, arranged with pergolas and Mediterranean vegetation, guide guests along carefully designed paths that combine historical objects with scenic viewpoints.