Villa San Michele

If you have time to see only one sight on Capri, visit the art-filled Villa San Michele, in Anacapri. Built in the late 1800s by the eccentric and brilliant doctor and philanthropist Axel Munthe and surrounded by beautiful gardens, the villa boasts relics, art and antiques, including the famous Sphinx Parapet, which overlooks the Bay of Naples from one of the property’s many balconies. Munthe, who hailed from Sweden and loved nature, art and literature (his circle of friends included Henry James and Rainer Maria Rilke), was also the physician to the Swedish court, and it was rumored that he was the lover of Crown Princess Victoria, herself a frequent visitor to San Michele. Today the grounds are immaculately kept, and the villa and gardens still speak of one man’s vision of beauty. Munthe’s 1929 book, The Story of San Michele (Henry James reportedly urged Munthe to write it), has been translated into forty-five languages and is still in print.