Ravello - Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone
… Via the Amalfi Coast
… Via the Amalfi Coast
Photo 1: The lower terrace of the hotel of Principessa di Piemonte with stone walls, terracotta planting pots and timber deck chairs. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in the distance as Ravello is 350 m. above sea level.
Photo 2: Donkeys being used to transport loads of sand along Ravello walkways beside the ancient villa of Villa Cimbrone
Photo 3: a Roman Temple from the first Century when a rich Roman family owned Villa Cimbrone. The family would sail down from Rome in the summer time and spend time at Villa Cimbrone.
From the website: www.sorrentoinfo.com/surrounding/ravello_italy.htm
A small, incomparably beautiful village which has attracted the most famous people over the centuries. The first one to be astonished by such beauty was the writer Giovanni Boccaccio who quotes it in his Decameron. It was the year 1350 and since then so many international celebrities have been enchanted by the sights of this place. Located on a promontory 350 m. above sea levels. In addition to the cathedral of St Pantaleone, the Roman churches and wonderful landscapes, Ravello worth a visit for its two pearls . Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone.
Villa Rufolo
On the right side of the square (where the cathedral is) you’ll see the quadrangular tower which gives way to Villa Rufolo: a group of buildings in Arabesque style built by the noble family Rufolo to symbolize their wealth. Now it is site of the Antiquarium, a precious archeological museum which is unluckily closed. The public is admitted to visit (from 9.00 to 2.00, in summer, from 9 to 18 in winter) the Moorish cloister, the tower, the famous esoteric gardens, whose beauty inspired the German composer Wagner for his Parsifal. In his journal he wrote: "the enchanted gardens of Klingsor have been found”. He meant he had found the ideal setting for his play, the place where his hero had to resist temptations of satanic young girls. That is why, since then, at the beginning of the second act of the Parsifal, wherever it is being performed, the gardens of Ravello are immortalised. The same gardens, every year in July, are setting of the world famous “Wagner Festival” important event for classic music.
Villa Cimbrone
Many famous people were astonished by this villa: the British politician Winston Churchill, the American actress Greta Garbo and the English writer Virginia Woolf. An ancient noble residence, it was bought at the beginning of the 900 AD by lord Ernest William Beckett, one of the many English scholars involved in the Grand tour. It is a wide complex including, in its central area, a luxurious 4 star hotel, an arabesque cloister and an arched crypt in gothic style. In the flowered garden surrounding the villa (the public is admitted from 9.00 to sunset) you can admire: the small temple of Bacco, the cave of Eve (a natural grotto with her marble statue); the terrace of roses (an Italian style garden) a bronze statue of David and the tea room. In the garden you will also admire the immense alley, covered with a white glycin pergola and the temple of Cerere, at the end of the alley, the breathtaking terrace “belvedere” with one of the most spectacular view over the gulf as far as Paestum, also called “terrace to the infinite”
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A small, incomparably beautiful village which has attracted the most famous people over the centuries. The first one to be astonished by such beauty was the writer Giovanni Boccaccio who quotes it in his Decameron. It was the year 1350 and since then so many international celebrities have been enchanted by the sights of this place. Located on a promontory 350 m. above sea levels. In addition to the cathedral of St Pantaleone, the Roman churches and wonderful landscapes, Ravello worth a visit for its two pearls . Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone.
Villa Rufolo
On the right side of the square (where the cathedral is) you’ll see the quadrangular tower which gives way to Villa Rufolo: a group of buildings in Arabesque style built by the noble family Rufolo to symbolize their wealth. Now it is site of the Antiquarium, a precious archeological museum which is unluckily closed. The public is admitted to visit (from 9.00 to 2.00, in summer, from 9 to 18 in winter) the Moorish cloister, the tower, the famous esoteric gardens, whose beauty inspired the German composer Wagner for his Parsifal. In his journal he wrote: "the enchanted gardens of Klingsor have been found”. He meant he had found the ideal setting for his play, the place where his hero had to resist temptations of satanic young girls. That is why, since then, at the beginning of the second act of the Parsifal, wherever it is being performed, the gardens of Ravello are immortalised. The same gardens, every year in July, are setting of the world famous “Wagner Festival” important event for classic music.
Villa Cimbrone
Many famous people were astonished by this villa: the British politician Winston Churchill, the American actress Greta Garbo and the English writer Virginia Woolf. An ancient noble residence, it was bought at the beginning of the 900 AD by lord Ernest William Beckett, one of the many English scholars involved in the Grand tour. It is a wide complex including, in its central area, a luxurious 4 star hotel, an arabesque cloister and an arched crypt in gothic style. In the flowered garden surrounding the villa (the public is admitted from 9.00 to sunset) you can admire: the small temple of Bacco, the cave of Eve (a natural grotto with her marble statue); the terrace of roses (an Italian style garden) a bronze statue of David and the tea room. In the garden you will also admire the immense alley, covered with a white glycin pergola and the temple of Cerere, at the end of the alley, the breathtaking terrace “belvedere” with one of the most spectacular view over the gulf as far as Paestum, also called “terrace to the infinite”
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